Descendants and Ancestors
of
Walpole Kaler Bertha Mossman
1878 - 1938 1882 - 1957
Compiled
1980
Dedication
This compilation of genealogical and biographical data is dedicated to the five grandchildren and nine great grandchildren of Walpole Kaler and Bertha Mossman by their three Children:
William Mossman Kaler to
Karlton Sheldon Kaler
Ronald William Kaler
Jeremy Michael Kaler
James B. Kaler to
Jana Sue Kaler
Mark William Smith
Scott Paul Smith
James B. Kaler III
James B. Kaler IV
Margaret Kaler to
Judy M. Langohr
Stacey Ann Ebeling
John Carhart Ebeling
Lucy Ann Langohr
Andrew Palmer Grant
Margaret Kaler Grant
Descendants of
Walpole Kaler Bertha Mossman
b. Oct. 24, 1878 b. Oct. 13, 1882
d. July 25, 1938 d. Sept. 18, 1957
m. Sept. 12, 1901
I. William Mossman Kaler b. Oct. 15, 1903
M. July 12, 1932
Harriet Hathaway Montgomery b. Oct. 3, 1906
1. Karlton Sheldon Kaler b. July 18, 1937
m. Jan. 25, 1964
Patricia Ann Elsholz b. Aug. 7, 1941
a. Ronald William Kaler b. Sept. 24, 1968
b. Jeremy Michael Kaler b. June 18, 1973
II. James B. Kaler b. Jan 13, 1906 {d. Sept. 2, 1985}
m. Jan. 4, 1936
Shirley Smith b. Dec. 15, 1912
1. Jana Sue Kaler b. Apr. 17, 1943
m. Aug. 8, 1970
William Fitz Smith b. Aug. 11, 1942
a. Mark William Smith b. Aug. 4, 1975
b. Scott Paul Smith b. Apr. 17, 1977
2. James B. Kaler III b. Apr. 5, 1949
m. Sept. 6, 1969
Leslie Newell Wydeen b. July 31, 1948
a. James B. Kaler IV b. Nov. 16, 1970
III. Margaret Kaler b. Oct. 27, 1911
m. Aug. 39, 1934
John Langohr b. Nov. 3, 1912 d. Sept 20 1969
1. Judy M. Langohr b. Feb. 13, 1937
m. Dec. 27, 1958
Dwight George Ebeling b. Dec. 18, 1935
a. Stacey Ann Ebeling b. July 31, 1961
b. John Carhart Egeling b. July 31, 1961
2. Lucy Ann Langohr b. Nov. 9, 1942
m. June 26, 1965
John Palmer Grant b. Oct. 31, 1942
a. Andrew Palmer Grant b. Feb. 3, 1972
b. Margaret Kaler Grant b. June 6, 1973
PREFACE
In preparing this compilation of the Descendants of Ancestor of Walpole Kaler and Bertha Mossman, it was thought that an individual compilation should be made for each of their nine great grandchildren which their parents should keep for them until they married or came of an age to appreciate their origins. Their parents and grand parents should be responsible for filling out their genealogical charts and furnishing any pertinent information about other branches of their families.
We are indebted to Samuel P. Kaler, Bertha M. Kaler, and Margaret Kaler-Langohr for their research and biographical sketches of their pioneer ancestors. There has been no attempt to follow family lines except by direct descent. An exception was made to include biographies of their three children = William, James and Margaret, together with their spouses. We do this because all were known to the grandchildren of Walpole and Bertha Kaler. These same grandchildren loved and were loved by Grandma "Dickie" Kaler. Judy Langohr and Karlton Kaler were babies when their Grandfather Kaler died in 1938 and the other children had not yet been born.
The genealogical charts were prepared by Harriet Kaler, wife of William Kaler. All the charts trace the genealogy of the children names in the chart through his great grandparents and have been individualized for the 17 descendants of Walpole Kaler and Bertha Mossman who were living in 1980.
Genealogical Charts
Chart I | Starts with a great grandchild of Walpole Kaler and Bertha Mossman, Behind this can be placed pictures, News items, biographical sketches, etc. of this child. |
Chart II | Starts with a grandchild, parent of child in Chart I. Behind this chart include biographical sketch of husband and wife, pictures, news items, etc. |
Chart III | Starts with a child of Walpole and Bertha Kaler, parent of child in Chart II, and traces his lineage to his great grandfather. |
Chart III 1-8 | Continued with the great grand parent lines.
Lines which need an additional chart use a letter with the number. The eight lines are as follows:
1. George Kaler
2. Catharine Traub
3. David Kerr III
4. Rozanna Premer--no further information available
5. Francis Mossman
6. Rheua Conner
7. Silas Briggs
8. Rebecca Nickey.
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[These charts are full page fan charts that I cannot duplicate in the original layout]
[These are more traditional equivalent chart. that shows the same data.]
CHART III
Genealogical Chart For William Mossman Kaler:
George Kaler Chart III-1
b. Oct. 3, 1821 - York, PA
d. Dec. 15, 1892 - Columbia City, Ind
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Samuel P. Kaler
b. Feb 17, 1853 - Crawford Co., Ohio
d. Feb. 22, 1913 - Columbia City, Ind.
| |
| |
| Catharine Traub Chart III-2
| b. Nov. 21, 1829 - Columbia Co. PA
| d. June 8, 1906 - Columbia City, Ind.
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Walpole Kaler
b. Oct. 25, 1878 - Larwill, Indiana
d. July 25, 1938 - Detroit, Michigan
| |
| |
| | David Kerr III Chart III-3
| | b. July 10, 1814 - Beaver Co., Pa.
| | d. 1907 Larwill, Ind.
| | |
| | |
| Elizabeth Alice Kerr
| b. Feb. 22, 1853 - Richland Co., Ohio
| d. Sept. 22, 1919 - Columbia City, Ind.
| |
| |
| Rozanna Premer Chart III-4
| b. July 27, 1819 - Wayne Co., Ohio
| d. Jly 16, 1866 - Larwill, Ind.
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William Mossman Kaler
b. Oct. 15, 1903 - Columbia City Indiana
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| Francis Mossman Chart III-5
| b. Aug. 28, 1810 - Washington Co., Pa.
| d. June 21, 1904 - Columbia City, Ind.
| |
| |
| James Albert Mossman
| b. Aug. 20, 1852 - Whitley Co., Ind.
| d. Nov. 1941 - Detroit, Mich.
| | |
| | |
| | Rheua Conner Chart III-6
| | b. June 21, 1817 - Coshocton Co., Ohio
| | d. May 16. 1903 - Coesse, Ind
| |
| |
Bertha Mossman
b. Oct, 13, 1882 - Coesse Ind.
d. Sept. 28, 1957 - Columbia City, Ind.
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|
| Silas Briggs Chart III-7
| b. Aug 16, 1826 - Ross Co., Ohio
| d. Nov. 19, 1913 - Columbia City, Ind
| m. Sept 16, 1852
| |
| |
Sarah Elizabeth Briggs
b. Mary 14, 1856 - Whitley Co., Ind.
d. May 1930 - Chicago, Ill.
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Rebecca Nickey Chart III-8
b. Sept. 27, 1835 - Whitley Co., Ind.
d. Mar. 1904 - Columbia City, Ind
Chart III - 1
Genealogical Chart for 1. George Kaler
Johannes Kehler Chart III-1a
b. July 26, 1714 - Switzerland
m. 1745
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Heinrich Kehler
b. Jan. 19, 1762 - Switzerland
d. Clinton Co,, Pa. (to America 1781)
m. Feb 16, 1788
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| Catrout Millenbaugh
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John Kaler (Kahler)
b. June 11, 1790 - York, Pa.
d. Jan. 14, 1875 - Crawford Co., Ohio
m. 1810
| |
| |
| Catharine Frein
| d. Sept 30, 1805 - York Co., Pa.
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Georg Kaler
b. Oct 3, 1821 - York, Pa
d. Dec 15, 1892 - Columbia City, Ind.
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| John Bieger
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| |
Elizabeth Bieber
b. Feb 24, 1791 - Berks Co., PA
d. July 3, 1873 - Crawford Co., Ohio
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Catharine (divorced)
Chart III-1a
Genealogical Chart for 1a George Kehler:
Heinrich Kehler
b. 1651 - Switzerland
d. Oct 3, 1755 - Switzerland (104 years old)
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Johannes Kehler
b. July 26, 1724 - Switzerland
d.
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Elizabeth -----
Chart III-2
Genealogical Chart for Catharine Traub:
Henry Traub
b. 1746 France
(to American 1752)
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George Traub
b 1770 - Lehigh Co., Pa.
d. 1809
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Henry Traub
b. Nov. 14, 1800
d. June 14, 1890
| |
| |
| Christine Hartzell
| b. Germany
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Catharine Traub
b. Nov. 21, 1829 - Columbia Co., Pa.
d. June 8, 1906 - Columbia City, Ind.
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| Quaker from England
| d. in America
| |
| |
Mary Hadesty
b. Aug. 13, 1803
d. Jan. 18, 1880
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Mother widowed when young - remarried
d 1834 - Pa.
Chart III-3
Genealogical Chart for David Kerr III:
Jamex Kerr Chart 3a
d 1785 - N. J.
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David Kerr I
b. July 14, 1750 - Camden Co., N.J.
d. May 3, 1826 - Beaver Co., Pa.
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David Kerr II
b. Feb. 14, 1791 - Beaver Co., Pa.
d. Dec. 17, 1864 - Shelby Co., Ohio
m. Mar 7, 1811
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| |
| Cornelia Chamberline
| b. Feb 28, 1766
| d. Jan. 15, 1844 - Richland Co., Ohio
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David Kerr III
b. July 10, 1814 - Beaver Co., Pa.
d. 1907 - Larwill, Ind.
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Rachel Sweek
b. Oct. 3, 1794 - Pa.
d. Oct. 10, 1837 - Shelby, Ohio
Chart III-3a
Genealogical Chart for 3a James Kerr
Robert Kerr
Came to Camden, N. J. 1708
From Scotland
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James Kerr
b.
d. 1785 - N. J.
Chart III-5
Genealogical Chart for 5. Francis Mossman:
James Mossman Chart III-5a
(minister Scotland)
b. 1660
(to America 1710)
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John Mossman
b. 1709 - County Down, Ireland
d. 1802 Mossmantown, Pa
(to America 1783)
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John Mossman
b. Mary 24, 1769 - Ireland
d. Aug. 23, 1839 - Muskingum, Ohio
| |
| |
| Elizabeth Hermand
| died age 71
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Francis ?Mossman
b. Aug. 28, 1810 - Washington, Pa.
d. June 21, 1904 - Columbia City, Ind.
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Polly Lewis
b. 1771
d. Oct. 5, 1868 - Ohio
Chart III-5a:
Genealogical Chart for 5a James Mossman
James Mossman
b. Aug. 1573 - Scotland
(Hanged)
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John Mossman
(inherited father's lands 1592)
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| | John Arres
| | | |
| | | |
| | | Christina
| | |
| | |
| Mariotta Arres
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James Mossman
b. 1660 - Scotland
America 1713
(Minister)
Chart III-7
Genealogical Chart for 7. Silas Briggs:
Joseph Briggs
d. (Estate settled 1808)
(to America 1787)
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Samuel Briggs
b. 1776 - Augusta Co., Va.
d. Jan. 27, 1841 - Ross Co., Ohio
m. 1801
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| |
| Rosemary
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Silas Briggs
b. Aug. 16, 1826 - ross. Co., Ohio
D. Nov. 19, 1903 - Columbia City, Ind.
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Agnes Shepard
d. Nov. 12, 1839 - Ross Co., Ohio
Chart III-8
Genealogical Chart for 8. Rebecca Nickey:
Dr. David Nickey Chart III-8a
b. Sept. 2, 1741
to America 1769
d. Dec. 1803 - Augusta, Va.
m. 1764
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Samuel Nickey
b. 1766 - bavaria, Germany
d. Feb. 17, 1832 - Augusta, Va.
m. Jan 1, 1806
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| |
| Mary Elizabeth
| d. 1810
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Samuel Nickey
b. June 2, 1809 - Augusta Co., Va.
d. Aug. 24, 1864 - Whitley Co., Ind.
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| | Christan Balsey
| | |
| | |
| Ann C. Balsey
| b. Mary 1, 1781 - :Lancaster, Pa.
| d. Feb. 27, 1861 - Whitley Co., Ind.
| |
| |
| Elizabeth Keinadt Chart III-8d
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Rebecca Nickey
b. Sept, 27, 1835 - Whitley Co., Ind.
d. Mar. 1904 - Columbia City, Ind.
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| William Gradeless
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Elizabeth Gradeless
b. May 10, 1814
d. Mar. 7, 1861 - Whitley Co., Ind.
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Sara Waugh
Chart III-8a
Genealogical Chart for 8a Dr. David Nickey:
Johanne Nieke
Sohland, Labau
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George Nieke
b. 1710 Saxony
to America 1743
d. 1773 Lancaster, Pa
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Dr. David Nickey
b. Sept 2, 1741
to America 1769
D. Dec 1803 - Augusta Co., Va
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| Johanne Christothe Donathe
| b. Saxony
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Johanna Eleanora Donathe
b. Oct 30, 1713 - Reichenbach, SAxony
d. Mary 1, 1790 - Cumberland Co., Pa.
Chart III-8d
Genealogical Chart for 8d Elizabeth Keinadt:
Michael Keindat
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Elizabeth Keinadt
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| Casper Diller
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Margaret Diller
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Barbara
BIOGRAPHICAL SECTION
PART I
Kaler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Traub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Kerr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Mossman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Connor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Briggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Nickey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
The great grandparent lines reach back as far as 1573
when James Mossman was hanged by the English in Scotland
for supporting Mary Queen of Scots. His home in Edinburgh,
which he rented to John Knox, is a tourist attraction today.
In 1651 Heinrich Kehler was born in Zurich, Switzerland,
and lived there for 104 years. His grandson and namesake
came to American in 1781.
We have so many stories of the Kaler and Mossman families
helped to settle our country that we feel these should be
passed on to our own grandchildren to bring life to the
people in their genealogical charts.
Part I follows all the family lines form the first
available information we have and continues through sketches
of the grandparents of Walpole Kaler and Bertha Mossman.
Part II which follows will start with their parents.
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Kaler
1. Kaler page 1
HEINRICH KEHLER Elizabeth
B. April 24, 1651
Canton of Zurich, Switzerland
b. Oct. 3, 1755
Canton of Zurich Switzerland
Children: Johannes Kehler b. July 26, 1714
Heinrich Kehler was a weaver. He took part in the
wars and disturbances of his country when part his seventy-
fifth year. Died at his birthplace at a little more than
one hundre and four years, leaving one children, Johannes,
the fruit of a second marriage late in life. Of his wives
there is no record save: "Surviving him lives his wife
Elizabeth and his son Johannes."
* * *
JOHANNES KEHLER m. 1745 CATROUT MILLENBAUGH
b. July 26, 1714
Contaon of Zurich, Switzerland
His wife was a stout, cheerful dame, his junior by
several years, who contributed largely to his success in
life. He was a devout Lutheran, a leader of the church and
its record keeper for many years. He was well-to-do and
one of the important personages in the quaint old village
that nestled on the shore of Lake Zurich. He was a manu-
facturer of woven fabrics and for some years a member of the
legislative body of his country and for a time its presiding
officer. The couple had three children. The only survivor
was Heinrich.
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1. Kaler page 2
HEINRICH KEHLER m. Feb. 16, 1788 CATHARIN FREIN
b. Jan. 19. 1762
Canton of Zurich, Switzerland
d. Clinton Co. Pa.
Children: 1. John b. June 11, 1790
2. Barbara b. Oct. 17y. 1791
3. Catharine b. Feb 14, 1794
4. Mary b. May 14, 1797
5. Jacob b. July 23, 1799
* 6. Henry b. Jan. 20, 1803
7. Elizabeth b. Sept 17, 1805
Heinrich came to America, landing at Philadelphia
in May 1781. He worked as a personal servant or attendant
of General Nathaniel Green and was with that brilliant
officer in his campaign against Lord Rawdon. In the retreat of
Ninety-Six neither the General or his servant stopped to
eat or sleep for thirty-two hours. At the battle of Euraw
Springs, Heinrich received a musket ball in the abdomen,
but remained with the command until cessation of hostilities
and lived to see the new republic well establish.
General Greene secured his employment with a Mr. Leedon,
of Baltimore where he worked until 1788 when he married
Catharine Fein, a domestic in Mr. Leedon's family. At that
time he changed his name to KAHLER. The couple moved to
Monheim Township, York Co., Pa. and bought sixty-eight acres
of land paying $240 in gold. They improved their farm and
made a good living.
*Henry Kahler died Feb 2, 1825 at half past eleven at
night. He was extremely bashful. During the month of Aug. 1824
he was working for a neighbor and at dinner take he saw a
louse in the butter. Too timid to pick it out, he ate it and
immediately took to vomiting, rupturing some internal organ
and never recovered. He lingered until winter and died.
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1. Kaler page 3
JOHN KAHLER (KALER) m. Mar. 10, 1810 ELIZABETH BIEBER
b. June 11, 1790 b. Feb. 24, 1791
Monheim Township Franklin Township
York, Co., Pa. Berks Co., Pa.
d. Jan. 14, 1875 d. July 2, 1873
Crawford co., Ohio Crawford C., Ohio
Children: 1. Catharine
2. Peter
3. Henry b. Juy 12, 1815
4. John b. Oct. 12, 1817
5. Elizabeth b. Nov. 5, 1819
6. George b. Oct. 3, 1821
7. Jacob b. Mar. 12, 1824
8. Charles b. April 11, 1826
9. Samuel b. Mary 5, 1828
10. Mary Ann b. Jan. 22, 1830
11. Rachel b. Jan. 22, 1830
12. Cyrus b. Mar. 15, 1832
13. Jesse b. Jan. 20, 1834
At fourteen John was apprenticed to a man names Ruch
to learn the shoemaker's trade. He readily earned the trade
and soon made good wages as a journeyman. He stayed with
Ruch until he married Elizabeth whose father, John Bieber,
was wealthy. He was separated from is wife at the time
the Kaler were married. A second wife and son squandered
the family fortune and Elizabeth was cut off with a single
thousand where it should have been a hundred thousand.
After his marriage John set up business for himself.
He prospered and in 1811 bought a farm. In supplying the
government with footwear for the army in the War of 1812
his business was ruined and he lost the farm.
He now resolved to go to the Wild West as Ohio was
then called but could not go without some money. He rebuilt
his business and bought another piece of land which they sold,
dropped the "h" from the name and started westward with their
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1. Kaler page 4
friends, the Peter Arters to Crawford County, Ohio.
They left York County in 1828 with their wagons. When
they got near the Ohio line, John became ill and did not
recover for quite awhile. Elizabeth and the boys rented a
small farm in Harrison County, Ohio, In 1829 he began to
recover and worked at his trade and the boys had some good
crops.
They enjoyed the life in Harrison County and were
exposed to some of the evils of slavery in nearby West
Virginia. The oldest son Henry became an abolitionist.
The journey from Harrison County to Crawford County
in the spring of 1831, was fully as hazardous as the former
journey through Pa. The intervening country was very wild
and covered by dense forests and numerous treacherous swamps,
and the woods were full of wild animals and Indians.
The trip took nearly three weeks and led through the
village of Mansfield, estimated to contain about 15 houses.
Her they learned that their friends the Arters were about
20 miles away o they got a guide to help them find the
Arters. Before nightfall their wagons stuck in the mud and
they were preparing to spend the night in the woods. Henry
saw a light and investigated and they found they were only a
quarter of a mile from Arter's cabin. So for three weeks the
family enjoyed Arter's hospitality. John bought a choice
piece of land found by Arter. Ten or a dozen children and
four heads of families filled all the floor space of the
one room log cabin at night, some of the boys sleeping
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1. Kaler page 5
outdoors on the brush. Within this time the scattering
settlers for miles around came together on an appointed
day, built a house, fully as pretentious as any in the
country, and did it between daylight and dark, without a
cent of expense; the assistants bringing their corn bread
in their pockets. It was a round log hut 18 x 20 feet with
a split puncheon floor. The chimney was of mud and split
sticks. The first place built of green wood against green
logs.
The laborious task of clearing the forest went on well
with father and boys, though the father worked mostly at
shoemaking. They sold this farm in 1840. After exploring
other counties in Ohio, John was satisfied to remain in
Crawford County and bought a farm much nearer to the Arters.
He walked to Cleveland to buy this choice piece of land and
by 1849 had a frame house built which replaced a log house
built earlier.
John and Elizabeth were cared for in their last days
by their son Jacob. They were married 63 years.
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1. Kaler page 6
GEORGE KALER m. June 10, 1846 ELIZA PATTON
b. Oct.3, 1821
York Co., Pa. m. Feb. 22, 184 CATHARINE TRAUB
d. Dec.15, 1892 b. Nov. 21, 1829
Columbia City, Ind. Columbia Co, Pa.
d. June 8, 1906
Columbia City, Ind.
Children: 1. Liza Ann, b. Jan. 9, 1848
2. Rachel b. Jan. 22, 1850
3. Samuel P. b. Feb. 17, 1853
4. William A. b. June 30, 1859
5. james B. b. Apr. 14, 18
George Kaler was 7 years old when the family started
their move from Pennsylvania to Ohio. They stayed for a
time in Harrison County where he and his brothers used to
play on "a large flat sone large enough for the entire
foundation of a barn". In 1831 the family moved again to
Crawford Co. and George recalled how proud they were of
their own home. S.P. Kaler saw the ruins of this home in
1867 or 1868.
George learned the shoemaker's trade in his youth,
probably from his father and continued this calling for
many years but finally abandoned it to become a farmer.
In March 1875 he came to Whitley County near Larwill and
in 1889 retired in Columbia City.
(This line is continued in Biographical Section II.)
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Traub
2. Traub page 7
HENRY TRAUB m 1769
b. 1746
South of France
Henry Traub came to America in 1752 with his mother.
His father had died. He was a French Tutor to wealthy
Quaker families in Philadelphia
* * *
GEORGE TRAUB m. Mar. 1, 1794 CHRISTINA HARTZELL
b. 1770
Milford, Pa.
d. 1809 d. 1802
George Traub was one of the clerks of the Continental
Congress and later served as private secretary to Thomas
Jefferson, by whom he was tendered a diplomatic position of
some importance which for some unexplained reason, he de-
clined. His son Henry was 9 years old at the time of his death.
His wife Christina Hartzell's family had lived in
American for three generations. Her ancestors had come from Germany.
Her father was in the Revolutionary War under George Washington.
* * *
HENRY TRAUB m. Apr. 10, 1822 MARY HADESTRY
b. Nov. 14, 1800 b. Aug. 13, 1802
Upper Milford, Lehigh Co. Pa.
d. June 14, 1890 d. Jan. 18, 1880
Henry Traub was a carpenter and cabinet maker. His
Wife's father was a Quaker and died when she was young. He
mother remarried, was an expert Neddlewoman whose work was
in the family in 1900. The mother died in Pa. 1834.
Their daughter Catharine was born in Pennsylvania and
brought to Crawford Co. Ohio in 1831. As she was a babe at that
time,she was carried all the way in the arms of a neighbor who
accompanied the.
(See GEORGE KALER page 6 for genealogical dates.)
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Kerr
3. Kerr page 8
ROBERT KERR
Robert Kerr with brothers John and David landed in
Philadelphia in 1708. They had spent the previous year in
Ireland but were Scotchmen who calimed they were descendants
of Robert Kerr, Earl of Somerset, the infamous Lord Kerr
who was so conspicuous a personage during the reign of
James I. Robert located in Camden, N.J. James is the only
children of record. Record also saays Robert owned property in
1730 and his estate was settled in 1740.
* * *
JAMES KERR
d. 1785 (from old burial ground record in Camden.)
He had 2 children: a son who died in the Revolutionary
War the other David.
* * *
DAVID KERR I m. Apr. 15, 1785 CORNELIA CHAMBERLAIN
b. July 14, 1750 b. Feb. 28, 1766
Camden, N.J. New Jersey
d. May 3, 1826 d. Jan. 15, 1844
Beaver Co. Pa. Richland, Ohio
Children: 1. John b. Jan. 17, 1786
2. Mary b. May 16, 1787
3. Rebecca b. Jan. 4, 1789
4. David b. Feb. 14, 1791
5. James b. Dec. 8, 1792
6. Sarah b. Feb. 28, 1795
7. William b. July 21, 1797
8. Robert b. Nov. 16, 1799
9. Jesse b. Mar. 9, 1802
10. Rachel b. Oct. 25, 1804
11. Ebenezer b. Jan. 5, 1808
In Volume 14 page 775 "Pennsylvania Archives of the
Revolutionary War," we find "David Kerr, born July 14, 1750:
was a private in Capt. James McClure's company, Col. William
Montgomery's battalion of the 'Flying Camp'; captured at
Fort Washington, November, 1776. He was exchanged Jan. 1777."
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3. Kerr page 9
David was part of the group of Scotch, Irish Presbyterian
settling western Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1785, less than
a year after their marriage, David and Cornelia (6 months
pregnant) started on their wearisome journey together with two
Chamberlain families and one or tow others. In the last
two years of her life Cornelia used to entree her grandchildren and
great grandchildren with an account of this trip over the
mountains and across the state of Pennsylvania.
She used to tell the children about gathering beech nuts
on the way. The trees were full of them. They took a horse, a
cow, a sack of cornmeal, a little cook-in kettle and a few
other things. The rugged state could not them be crossed by a
vehicle had they possessed one. Upon the horse was strapped
the greater part of their belongings, and upon them sat Mrs. Kerr.
Each person carried what they could, and the cow was also
pressed into service and was compelled to carry the kettle about
her neck. They subsisted on cow's milk, with a stinted
allowance of the cornmeal and such game as they could collect
and cook anywhere in the almost unbroken wilderness. As it was
late in the season they kept from perishing several nights by a
shed of brush and fire of logs kept burning all night.
They got to Beaver County, Pa. in time to clear off
a little spot and raise some corn and vegetables in 1786.
David got a patent on a large tract of land about 36 miles
below Pittsburgh. He was one of the first ruling elders of the
Mill Creek Church not later than 1793.
The first house of worship had an underground passage of
entrance to protect the worshippers from the Indians. It was
a log cabin 18 x 20 feet without doors or windows, lighted
from the roof.
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3. Kerr page 10
After David's death in 1826, Cornelia with her daughter
Mary and sons Robert, Jesse, Ebenezer went to Richland Co.,
Ohio in 1831. The older children had already gone to Ohio.
Jesse built a log house for his mother and Mary. They came
into his house after his wife died.
* * *
DAVID KERR II m. Mar. 7, 1811 RACHEL SWEEK
b. Feb. 14, 1791 b. Oct. 3, 1791
Beaver Co. Pa. Northumberland Co., Pa.
d. Dec. 17, 1864 d. Oct. 10, 1837
Children: 1. John b. Feb. 7, 1812
2. David b. July 10, 1814
3. Jesse b. Mar. 4, 1817
4. Robert b. Apr. 20, 1820
5. Cornelia b. Jan. 25, 1823
6. Ellen b. Mar. 15, 1827
7. Nancy b. Oct. 2, 1830
8. Matilda b. Mar. 2, 1836
This David Kerr was a soldier in the War of 1812. In
1823 he too moved to Richland, Ohio, staying with his brother
John who was already established in Mansfield. In the
meantime he leased a farm about 2½ miles west of Mansfield
until 1832 when he moved to "beech woods".
After Rachel's death in 1837 he married Elizabeth Taylor
by whom he had the following children:
1. Margaret Lee b. Jan. 7, 1839
2. Eliza Jane b. Feb. 28, 1841
3. Ebenezer b. July 5, 1843
4. Isaac b. Jan. 25, 1846
5. Francis b. Jan 17, 1849
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3. Kerr page 11
DAVID KERR III m. Mar. 7, 1838 ROZANNA PREMER
b. July 10, 1814 b. July 27, 1819
Beaver Co. Pa. Wayne Co., Ohio
d. 1907 d. July 16, 1866
Larwill, Ind. Larwill, Ind.
Children; 1. Matilda b. Dec. 10, 1838
2. Emily Jane b. Mar. 16, 1841
3. William b. Aug. 8, 1845
4. James b. Oct. 10, 1846
5. Mary Abigail b. May 3, 1848
6. Sara Rebecca b. Nov. 6, 1850
7. Elizabeth Alice b. Feb. 22, 1853
8. David Nelson b. Oct. 13, 1853 (died in infancy)
9. Charles Lee b. July 22, 1892 " " "
10. Henry Martin b. Aug. 4, 1863
David Kerr was 9 years old when his father's family
left for Ohio. His early life was one of hardship and pri-
vation incident to pioneer life but he acquired a fair edu-
cation for the day. At the age of 19 he had saved enough
money to enter 40 acres of land about two miles northeast of
Crestline, Ohio, which his Uncle Robert had helped him measure
off and locate.
In Feb. 1833 he found that one George Kimmel was ex-
pecting to enter the same tract in a few days. At 2 o'clock
in the afternoon he gathered what money he could and started
for the land office at Wooster on foot, a distance of 50
miles. He ran nearly all night stopping but once or twice
east of Mansfield to rest, eat and catch a little sleep
and reached Wooster about 9 o'clock the next morning.
after exchanging his paper money for specie at a small
premium, he entered the land and then started home more
leisurely than he had come. Had he been one day later he
would have lost the prize as Kimmel intended starting the
next morning on horseback. In due time he received his patent
signed by Andrew Jackson.
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3. Kerr page 12
His occupation was now carpentry, chopping wood and
teaching school. In the summer of 1837 he built a barn for
a man in Seneca county. At the same place Rozanna Premer was
working. She belonged to a large and wealthy family living
near New Pittsburgh, Wayne County, Ohio. They were married
and settled on a little farm where they lived until 1850
when they sold out and moved to Crestline. He went into
a shoe store with James Miller, lost about $500 and was
glad to quite. In 1858 he bought a farm in Larwill, Ind.
where he moved in the spring of 1859. In 1862 his little
son David N. died and he buried him on a beautiful spot
but a few rods from his house, overlooking the beautiful
lake on the farm. He then laid out a cemetery and it became
the burying ground of the village. About 1877 he sold the
cemetery to a corporation and it was enlarged and beautified
and named Lake View Cemetery. He reserved a large and
beautiful plat near the center, where already lay his devoted wife
and two children.
Margaret Langohr and Harriet Kaler visited this cemetery
in 1978 in order to get the date of his death. It is engraved
on a very old marker on which also appears the name of
Rozanna.)
This line is continued in Biography Section II. See
S.P. Kaler-Elizabeth Alice Kerr.
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Mossman
5. Mossman page 13
JAMES MOSSMAN
d. Aug. 3, 1573
James Mossman was a goldsmith whose father had remade
the Scottish crown for James V and the crown for his wife
Mary of Guise, the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots. He became
the court jeweler for the Scottish king James VII.
While he was at court, he rented his comfortable home in
Edinburgh, Scotland, to John Knox. It is likely at the time
John Know lived there, the household consisted of himself,
his wife and three daughters, and perhaps the two sons of his
first marriage. For its time the house had comfort and grace,
legacies from the time it was occupied by the wealthy
Mossmans with their shop on the ground floor and their
home above. In these apartments sat the great men of the
day, the Earls of Moray, Morton and Clencairn; Lords Boyd,
Ruthven, Ochiltree, and many another whose names are
conspicuous in the history of their time.
The house dates from 1490 and was inherited in 1595 by
Christina Arrest, the grandmother of Mariota Arres, James'
wife. It is today a tourist attraction and was seen in the
fall of 1979 by Lucy Langohr-Grant when her husband Dr. John Grant
went to Edinburgh to read a medical paper at the University of
Edinburgh. On the east wall under a large Renaissance window
on the first floor is James Mossman's armoured panel: a
shield charged on chevron between three oak leaves and three
crowns. There is mention of certain lands belonging to James
Mossman, goldsmith and his son John in published Act of
the Parliament of Scotland.
James unfortunately became embroiled in the cause of
Mary Queen of Scots. Elizabeth's troops captured him defending
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5. Mossman page 14
Edinburgh Castle. "William Kirkaldy of Grange, Knight,
sometime Captain of the castle, and James Mossman, Goldsymith
were hauled in two carts backward from the Abbey to the
cross of Edinburgh, and there hanged, third August 1573."
After his death several children emigrated to Australia,
New Zealand and America. One of these was John who inherited
lands granted to his father.
* * *
JOHN MOSSMAN
Inherited James' lands 19 years after his father's
tragic death.
* * *
JAMES MOSSMAN
b. 1660
Scotland
James became a Presbyterian minister and emigrated to
Ireland. He came to American in 1713, and took up land now
covered by the city of Boston. He then prepared to bring
his only son John to the New World but was cut off by death.
* * *
JOHN MOSSMAN m. In Ireland ELIZABETH HERDMAN
b. 1709
County Down, Ireland
d. 1802 Mossmantown, Pa. d. at age of 71
They had eight children: James, Francis, Eleanor.
Nancy came to America, landing in Baltimore, in 1783. John in
his 81st year came with John, Lillian, and William landed
Baltimore Mar. 15, 1790. They stayed in Baltimore until 1794
when the entire family settled in Fayette County, Pa.
In the fall of 1797 some of the family and friends
decided to explore the then far west, Allegheny Co., Pa.
On leaving Pittsburgh then a place of forty houses, the
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5. Mossman page 15
followed an Indian trail to West Salem township, Mercer Co.
Each of the party selected a claim and girdled a few trees
to mark it and erected one cabin.
They returned home after an absence of two months, the
entire journey on foot. The next year they returned to more
fully establish their claims and after clearing a patch
and erecting a cabin on each claim, they returned with their
family.
The next year on Oct. 1, 1799, they started with their
families from Fayette Co. for the new home in the unbroken
wilderness. They were obliged to pack everything on horseback,
there being neither wagons or wagon roads: even the best
paths had not been selected or places to cross streams. Each
family took an iron kettle for making maple sugar and other
purposed and those were closely packed with sacks of flour.
The men walked and led the heavily laden horses and the
journey took two weeks. The cabins were typical of the day,
about 12 feet square, ground floor, split clapboard roof
held in place with poles, doors with wood hinges and latch,
chimneys of wood and clay. Here they established Mossmantown.
There were 4 Mossman families, two unmarried sisters, John
Mossman now 91 years old and 6 young men in the party making
the trip.
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5. Mossman page 16
JOHN MOSSMAN m 1793 POLLY LEWIS
b. May 24, 1769 b. 1771
County Down, ireland America
d. Aug. 14, 1839 d. Oct. 15, 1868
Muskingum, Ohio Muskingum, Ohio
Children: 1. Elizabeth b. July 14, 1802
2. Sarah b. Jan. 21, 1804
3. James b. Aug. 12, 1805
4. Joseph b. Oct. 10, 1807
5. Francis b. Aug. 28, 1810
6. Mary Ann b. Aug. 29, 1812
7. Eleanor b. July 2, 1814
8. Amelia b. Sept. 20, 1817
9. Orpha b. Aug. 20, 1819
10. rebecca b. Apr. 22, 1821
11. Catharine b. Jan. 23, 1824
When the other members of the family went to Mossmantown,
John took his family to Washington Co. Pa. in 1799 and to
Muskingum Co. Ohio in 1815.
* * *
FRANCIS MOSSMAN m. Jan. 22, 1835 RHEUA CONNOR
b. Aug. 28, 1810 b. June 21, 1817
Washington Co. Pa. Coshocton Co., Ohio
d. Jan. 21, 1904 d. May 16, 1903
Columbia City, Ind. Coesse, Ind.
Children: 1. John F. b. Feb. 14, 1837
2. Mary C. b. June 23, 1838
3. Alcinda b. Mar. 26, 1840
4. Jseph L. b. Sept. 3, 1841
5. William E. b. Sept. 17, 1843
6. Paul b. May 26, 1845
7. George S. b. Sept. 23, 1846
8. Orpha L. b. May 6, 1849
9. Francis M. b. Feb. 2, 1851
10. James Albert b. Aug. 20, 1852
11. Maxamilia b. May 21, 1856
In 1840 Francis decided to move from Coshocton, Ohio,
to Whitley Co., Ind. to be near an old friend, Andrew Compton,
and entered a fractional quarter section about 2 miles from
the Comptons. He gave Anderson dn another man a contract to
clear eight acres and put up a cabin, which they completed
within 2 years. The family has marked the site of this cabin.
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5. Mossman page 17
In Oct. 1842 Francis moved his family to this farm and
cabin. They came in a large covered wagon with three horses.
His father-in-law, Mr. Connor, came along, riding the lead
horse. They stayed the last night on the road at Bond's mill
now the Barney farm, a couple of miles northeast of Columbia
City. The rest of the distance they were obliged to cut out
a road as they went. The Comptons had come by way of Huntington
and crossed the Eel River near present South Whitley. Neither
Mr. Mossman or his family was satisfied with the isolated
situation. In February following he went to Leesburgh to
mill. The snow was very deep and he could not see the logs
and other obstacles and broke three tongues out of his sled.
He was gone three days and came home determined to sell
and move. At this time a small clearing was much more
considered by purchasers than the kind of land. The next
day old Mr. Leedy from Richland Co., Ohio, bought the farm
and his son David Leedy at once moved on it and lived there
until old age compelled him to move away.
The Mossmans moved into David Hayden's kitchen, a mile
north, until they could relocated, Mr. Mossman then started
to find a home nearer Fort Wayne that he might find a market.
He bought a tract now covered by Lindenwood Cemetery on tax
title. Another man wanted it and gave him a great scare
about the title and bought it from Mossman at once at $50
profit. Returning he stopped at Rev. Wolff's, in Union Township,
Whitley Co. and was persuaded to locate in that neighborhood.
He at once moved into Wolff's cabin in Feb. 1843. It took
tow days to reach the placed, staying overnight in Columbia City.
He soon bought a quarter section of School Land and located a
half mile north of present Coesse, there he accumulated a
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5. Mossman page 18
very large farm and was always very prosperous.
The local deer population feasting on his craps was
quite a problem for him in earlier times. One day a deer chased
by dogs and followed by an Indiana ran into his corn field.
Francis grabbed his gun and joined in pursuit. He and the
Indiana together killed the deer and dragged it to the cabin yard
where they butchered it and each took half the meat. Imagine
Francis' surprise when he found out this Indian was Chief Coesse.
In order to get cattle to market in the populous cities
of the east, pioneers organized cattle drives to Buffalo, N.Y.
where they shipped the cattle via the Erie Canal. Francis not
only raised cattle but bought more when he and neighbors made
their annual drive. Some of the men rode hoses while others
walked herding the animals. At night they camped out. It took
three months for the trip to Buffalo and return to Coesse.
As an old retired farmer, Francis delighted in playing
with his two granddaughters who were part of the household.
He often carried little Bertha in his arms into the flower
garden and around the farmyard. They loved listening to the
birds singing. Bertha called them Dickie birds. Her grandfather
started calling her Dickie, a name which followed her through-
out her life. This same granddaughter has left us the beau-
tiful account of her grandmother which follows.
Mrs. Mossman died at the home of their son, James Albert,
in Coesse and Mr. Mossman died at his home after he had moved
to Columbia City. Both are buried in the graveyard of the
Coesse Lutheran Church.
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Connor
6. Conner page 19
The folowing biography of Rhuea Connor was written
about 1940 by her granddaugher Bertha Mossman Kaler. The
original is in the possession of Margaret Kaler Langohr.
RHEUA CONNOR MOSSMAN
BY
BERTHA MOSSMAN KALER
I would like to write an ode to my grandmother, singing
her virtues and wisdom and the beauties of her mind, but as I
have not that power I can only set down in simple words my
memories of her.
I believe I knew her more intimately than any of her
grandchildren, for from my earliest childhood I spent house
in her living room, at the period in her life when she had
almost all leisure time. We both enjoyed reading and in
her room I could read undisturbed.
I do not think she ever read fiction in her life, but
she would pore for hours over Hume's "History of England"
and such kindred books as our limited library had. How I
would love to share with her the numerous magazines and books
we have today. She would have enjoyed them so much.
Children intuitively analyze the characters with whom
they are closely associated and I say, without reservation,
that I believe my grandmother was one of the most intelligent
woman I have ever known, as well as the most innately refined.
She scorned anything vulgar. This was not an acquired Mid-
Victorian refinement, but the result of a naturally pure spirit.
I never saw my grandmother laugh and I do not think it
would have become her. She was unable to cry, too, when
tragedy came into her life, as when her beloved son, George died.
I believe she suffered more because she could not give vent to
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6. Conner page 20
her emotions - her beautiful dark eyes just became a little
more tragic.
Grandmother did not make friends easily for she was not
interested in small gossip. But what friendships she did make
were deep, real and fine = based on a common intellectual
plane - with those whose characters she admired.
When her services were needed, my father said that she
would go anywhere and help - in times of sickness or death.
The flag carried by the Fifth Indiana Battery during
the entire Civil War was made at my grandmother's home by
herself and eight other ladies because she had the only sewing
machine in the country. My grandfather, Francis Mossman, was the
treasurer of a fund raised by the citizens of Union Township,
Indiana, to pay men to go to the Army. After the war a sum
was raised for the widows and orphans from this township and
grandfather had charge of its disbursement.
It is interesting to note that due to this, a great
granddaughters, Margaret McLallen, was eligible to join a
patriotic society and was sent from Los Angeles as the repre-
sentative of their society to the King George VI Coronation.
How my grandmother would have gloried in that!
Two of my grandmother's outstanding traits were, first,
her ambition for her children to succeed, to do something,
to be somebody worthy of respect in this community - not in
the climber sense, for she was too great a lady in her own
right for that, and secondly , her stern moral code, which
seemed almost too relentless. Because of one son's marriage of
whose wife she did not approve, she refused to ever enter his
home, although he lived on an adjoining farm, and she was never
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6. Conner page 21
very friendly to their children. She never mentioned the wife's
name now was she discussed, but as a child I always felt
sorry for my cousins when they occasionally came to see us.
I think her unrelentlessness broke my grandmother's heart
as well as that of her great0minded son, George, whom all
the children agreed was the most brilliant of the six sons.
His favorite poet was Milton and he could quote pages from
"Paradise Lost and regained". George died when about forty
years old, Aug. 18, 1887.
Of my grandmother's early life I do not know a great
deal. She was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, near Dresden,
the only girl in a family of six brothers. Her name was
Rheua Connor. Her grandmother lived with them and I can
remember Grandmother telling me, "My grandmother was a very
noble woman". She had a small tintype of her and destroyed
it because she did not want her descendants to think of a
very beautiful character as the frail old lady in the picture.
How often this is true. We do not think of the aging bodies
of those we know and love very well, but others who did not
know them can only visualize them by their photographs.
In this pen portrait of my grandmother I wish I could
envisage her as the very lovely young woman he must have been.
She had very large, dark, expressive eyes, dark brown hair, was
slender and very graceful. This combined with a certain
dignity that was much a part of her charm.
After I was married, Mrs. Franklin Foust, wife of the
Columbia city banker, told me that grandmother was noted for
her beauty as a girl - that she remembered the morning of
my grandparents marriage, her father coming in and saying,
"Well, Frankie Mossman is marrying the prettiest girl in
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6. Conner page 22
Coshocton County today".
My grandparents came to Indiana with nothing but their
youth, stout hearts, and courage. We can scarcely conceive
what hardships Grandmother must have gone through to go with
her husband into the almost unbroken wilderness and establish
a new home in that forest - to leave all those so dear to her.
I don't think she ever saw any of them but once or twice after
that. She lost a child on that laborious trek. She told me
that many times the Indians came to their cabin when she was
alone and asked for food. She said, although terrified,
she always set out some food for them and they never molested
her.
Grandmother made one trip back home eon horseback taking
her oldest son, John, a baby, with her through forest trails
for at least two hundred miles. We wonder how she could do it.
Grandfather had over 1,00 acres of land bought from the
government. As the country became more settled and the forests
cleared, the family moved from their original log cabin home
where the children were all born to the old homestead, about
three-quarters of a mile from Coesse, Indiana. The site of it
is known yet as "Mossman Corners". this rambling farmhouse
was set back from the road some distance on a small rise.
On three sides were main traveled roads.
My father had five hundred acres in this tract and it
was here that I was born and lived with my parents and
grandparents until I was married in 1901.
My grandmother must have had an overwhelming desire for
beauty. She once told me, "I always prayed before my children
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6. Conner page 23
were born that they would be beautiful" - but most certainly
her prayers were answered, for her daughters all had beauti-
ful refined faces and manners, and her sons were all fine
looking, stalwart, intelligent men.
Her desire for beauty took its expression in raising
flowers - and it has always been a mystery to me how she could
have acquired the enormous variety she had without our
modern methods of obtaining seeds and plants. The majority of
her flowers, as need be, were perennials, and how grateful
I am to her for being able to grow up knowing so intimately
all these lovely varieties - masses of fragrant syringa
and iliac bushes, snowball, honeysuckle, and every shade
of roses. I especially loved our white moss roses and the
yellow ones, perhaps because they were a little more unusual.
One monthly rose bush that had such perfect rich red roses on,
my father transplanted to his home in Columbia city. At the
time, he said it was over fifty years old. We had great
beds of tulips, iris, and peonies - white, pink and red.
My father would have the farm hands mulch these beds once
a year and grandmother would otherwise take care of them herself.
We had an abundance of every kind of fruit on our farm
due, I think, to her interest in these things - cherries,
apples, peaches, plums, pears, currants, raspberries, black
berries, gooseberries, etc. Growing up with all these around
they almost assumed personalities to me. We usually stored
to or 609 bushels of apples in our outside fruit cellar along
with potatoes for winter use. Grandmother often grafted
fruit. In early days she spun and wove, made all their own
clothes, soap, candles, and, no doubt, many other things
I do not know about.
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6. Conner page 24
I can remember what great brown loaves of salt-rising
bread she made. My father said that on Sunday nights she
made such wonderful biscuits and served them with honey as
a special treat for her children.
My grandparents did all they could to promote the education
of their children. As a girl Grandmother had attended a
"female seminary", but there was nothing like that in his
new country Grandfather gave a teacher they admired very
much five hundred collars if she would teach his children the
following year. They had debating groups on Sunday afternoons,
spelling bees,and the like. they gave the children singing
lessons, although I do not believe as a family they were
musical. Aunt Mack, the youngest child, was sent to Ft. Wayne
in later years and became a stenographer - working in
Jacksonville, Florida, about 1880. This was considered
quite an accomplishment in that day. At one time, when there
was some talk of establishing Wittenberg College in that
part of the country, Grandfather offered th donate the land
and grandmother boarded the minister one winter free of charge
trying to promote it. The Lutheran Church later decided to
establish it at Springfield, Ohio.
How many rich and happy memories must have flitted across
the mind of days gone by, of her children growing up around her,
of birth, of death, sorrow and joy, when she was the center of
it all to the days when this was all past and she sat tran-
quilly smoking her pipe,hours on end, with almost a
tragic expression in her beautiful dark eyes. She always wore
a little cap of black lace and ribbon. Aunt Orpha kept her
supplied with these, sometimes with a little lavender ribbon
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6. Conner page 25
woven in. I can remember one lovely dress of royal purple
that Aunt Orpha sent her. Grandmother had the Mossman pride
and always looked very neat.
Cousin Mazie had told me she always felt ashamed as a
girl because Grandmother smoked a pipe, but I can truly say
I never did. It was no more a part of her than the food she
ate. Her character, intelligence, and personality were so
much greater than such trivialism.
I must have questioned her about it, though, for I
remember her telling me she started smoking to quiet the pain
of an impacted wisdom tooth with which she walked the floor
for several days. As they lived in the forest far from
doctors and dentist we can understand this.
While one of her sons became a multi-millionaire, a
daughter the wife of another, a grandson an inventor of note,
and many of her children occupied positions of importance
all over the United States, I do not believe any of these
ere as important to her as her desire that they maintain the
strict moral code she had laid so heavily on their consciousness
and which in turn they have transmitted to their own children.
I never saw any unduly outward observance of religion
on my grandmother's part, yet I know she was the most
deeply religious woman I have ever known. I think she walked
with God at all times with ever a prayer on her lips for
her children.
I never heard her complain, scold or nag. She was too
great for that. Yet I do not doubt when she commanded, her
children obeyed at once.
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6. Conner page 26
I would like to close these recollections with the
words Thomas R. Marshall wrote about his mother, for they
so truly voice my thoughts about my grandmother.
"A woman who with hand grasping the Unseen Hand walks
the briar bordered paths of life, unashamed, unafraid, un-
harmed. She is clad in garments of beauty for me, and age
does not soil them nor years make them cheap and tawdry.
her tongue is without guile,having never been the messenger
of a lie."
(see FRANCIS MOSSMAND page 16 for genealogical dates.)
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Briggs
6. Briggs page 27
JOSEPH BRIGGS
(Estate settled 1808)
SAMUEL BIRGGS m. 1801 AGNES SHEPHARD
b. 1776
Augusta Co. Va.
d. Jan 27, 1841 d. Nov. 12, 1839
Ross Co., Ohio Ross Co., Ohio
Children: 1. William b. Apr. 21, 1808
2. Sarah b. Sept. 8, 1810
3. Hannah (Died in infancy. No record)
4. Jesse, b. May 2, 1813
5. Elizabeth b. July 9, 1817
6. James b. Dec. 25, 1819
7. Smauel b. Feb. 20, 1822
8. Robert b. Aug. 18, 1824
9. Silas b. Abu. 16, 1826
10. Andre b. Apr. 5, 1829
The record at the Washington Court House in Ross County,
says that Samuel Briggs and Agnew Shephard were buried on
their farm and in the 1960's their stones were removed to
a local cemetery.
He came in 1803 from West Virginia (then Virginia). His
first job was Keeper of the Poor at the County Poor Farm.
His house was brick with white trim across a small drive
on the road from the frame institution. In the early 1960's
they were still standing. The institution had been courted
into a granary. Originally the institution had a central
hallway with individual rooms going off of both sides of the
hall. Agnes prepared the food and did the laundry.
After they saved enough money from this job they invested
it in farm land in Ross County. On their farm they built a log
cabin with a loft overhead for the children. In the 190's
this log cabin was still preserved with the original tools and
iron work around the fireplace. The floor was earth with salt
spread into it which gave it the quality of cement. In the
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7. Briggs page 28
1960's the building was still standing but the iron works
were sold. One end of the log cabin was walled off, making a
separate room whose entrance was form the outside. This was
the spring house used to refrigerate food. At one end of
the spring house was a box built to contain the water from
the spring. A ledge in the box held small crocks of food, the
deeper water in the box held larger crocks. This box was
the width of the building and the cool water made the entire
room cool.
Later they built a beautiful brick house in the grand
manner. It was two story with pillars on the front porch,
green shutters, painted fret work. Later owners sand blasted
the brick removed the shutters, altered the porch, and
removed original shrubs and pins, changing the character
of the building.
They had a large family of children--Six of the children
migrated to Whitley County, Indiana, in the late 1830's and
early 1840. Four were boys and two were girls. They all
settled on land adjacent to each other east of Columbia City.
some of the children stayed in Ross County and their descendants
are still there. One brother went to Iowa. The first brother
to come to Whitley County was Jesse, followed by Andrew, then
James, Elizabeth. Last to come was Silas from whom we are
descended. They followed the Nickey with whom they started
to intermarry.
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7. Briggs page 29
SILAS BRIGSS m. Sept. 16, 1852 REBECCA NICKEY
b. Aug. 16, 1826 b. Sept. 27, 1835
Ross Co. Ohio Whitey Co. Ind.
d. Nov. 18, 1913 d. Mar. 1904
Columbia City Ind. Columbia City, Ind.
Children: 1. Desta Jane b. Oct. 29, 1853
2. Sarah Elizabeth b. May 24, 1856 (Lillie)
3. Clara Odell b. Oct. 4, 1858 (Dellie)
4. Dvid b. Feb. 20, 1861
5. Brit b. Apr. 5, 1861
6. Silas Edward b. June 24, 1865
7. Steven b. Sept. 15, 1867
8. Charles b. Jan. 12, 1870
9. Frank b. July 9, 1872
10. Fred b. March 29, 1875
11. JEsse b. oct. 4, 1880
The family of Silas Briggs were pioneers in settling
Ohio having come from Virginia in 1803. Following the usual
pattern, they bought land, cleared it and built a log cabin.
More land and more children were added in the following years.
Their affluence was eventually climaxed with a fine family home
of brick styled in southern classic architecture. Their
original log cabin containing a spring house separated by a
wall but under the same roof, stood close by the mansion. It
was used as a summer kitchen with the spring house part being
useful for cooling food.
Growing up in a large family on a pioneer farm made
Silas familiar with sharing labor in order to make a living.
Although schooling was brief he acquired the basics of the
3 R's in the three month terms of three years. With the
death of his father when Silas was fifteen, his mother having
already passed away, he took employment on the farm of his
brother-in-law,Jacob Nickey, for six dollars a month.
Silas became a drover when the opportunity to drive
cattle from Madison County, Ohio to the eastern market in
Philadelphia, Pa. presented itself. Late he traveled to
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Sangamon County, Illinois, where he herded cattle from that
place to Lancaster, Pa. Walking and sometimes riding a horse
this distance of 900 miles,making it in 90 days, was a dif-
ficult task involving much responsibility. Besides it was
an education, seeing different parts of the country from
prairie land through eastern woodlands, over mountains and
streams to the seaboard. As a drover he would contract to
drive cattle, hogs, mules and even turkeys which he allowed
to rest in the trees at night and gathered together in the
morning by sprinkling grain on the ground.
Three brothers and two married sisters had left the
Brigg's homestead in Ohio to settle on land in Whitley County,
Indiana, which was offered for sale by the United States
Government. The sisters were wives of pioneers. All their
farms were adjacent to each other forming almost a Briggs
related compound. In 1848 when Silas came to Indiana he was
the last of the Briggs to arrive. His brothers and sisters
were anxious to have him join them by claiming some available
land next to brother James' farm.
In making this decision Silas rode his horse into the
proposed area of 160 acres as far as he could go. Then he had
to walk and finally crawl through this thicket of wilderness.
Some of it was rich bottom land along the Eel River. Other
parts gently rolled away from the river. The heavy growth of
virgin timber and the underbrush as well as the scattering
of rocks and boulders would have to be removed. Although
he purchased this land, he alter felt that he might have done
better buying prairie land in Illinois when he went on a cattle
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7. Briggs Page 31
buying trip there. In Illinois there would not be the labor\
of clearing trees. yet Indiana woodlands provided timber for
a cabin, wood for heating, fences and other construction.
Samuel Nickey had preceded the Briggs into Whitley County
from Ross county, Ohio. The families had known each other
there. In fact Silas' sister Elizabeth was already married
to Jacob Nickey, Samuel's brother, Silas courted and married
Samuel's only daughter, Rebecca, a little lady charged
with abounding energy.
The Nickey's were proud of their ancestry. They valued
education and aimed to marry well. To thee qualities
Rebecca added a deep spiritual commitment and dependency upon
the lord. However in pioneer society very little education
was available as the labors of the people were consumed in
maintaining a day to day existence with its hardships. These
resulted in a cultural set-back of a generation or more.
yet the thread of Nickey attitudes was passed on and developed
in the family. This combined well with the Briggs philosophy
of self reliance and dedication to achievement by hard work.
Eleven children were born to Rebecca and Silas. The first
three were girls followed by the birth of eight boys, two
of whole died at an early age and were buried in the old Don
cord Cemetery. Every child worked their assigned duties in the
family enterprise. The girls helped with the household chores.
the boys helped their father clearing land, raising crops,
milking and raising cattle as well as sheep and hogs.
From information handed down it seems that Sarah Elizabeth,
named for her two aunts, with her blue eyes and soft curly
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7. Briggs page 32
brown hair was a favorite of her father. Her sisters felt
that she came out better on the giving end of things from
him. Jesse Briggs, the youngest, was especially near his
mother's heart. He helped her with cooking and household
chores as the girls were married and all the boys were still
home. She was so proud of Jesse as he was an excellent
student and graduated from Wittenberg College and Northwestern
Medical School. He practiced in Churubusco.
As adjacent land to his 160 acres became available, Silas
bought it, eventually owning 750 acres. He took pride in
keeping a "clean" farm which meant have the fence rows mowed
and weeds kept out. On Sundays he walked about his yard or
fields he kept a pocket knife handy in order to attack any
offending weed. People said that he didn't have a thistle
on the place.
No one could have been a more enthusiastic supporter of
the Democratic Party then Silas Briggs. He expected his sons
to follow in his footsteps politically as he had with his own
father who had named Silas' brother Andrew Jackson Brigs as a
testimonial to his persuasions. It was his disappointment that
two of his sons became Republicans as they blamed their hard
times on President Cleveland.
During the Civil War Silas had a contract with the
federal government to supply large amounts of beef for
military use. By traveling about the countryside buying cattle
it was possible to make a hundred dollars a day. However,
it was impossible to do that and keep his farm operating. So
he only did cattle buying on a part time basis. Besides being
a successful farmer and stockman he was respected for him
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7. Briggs page 33
business accumen. He was a man of his word, it being his bond.
Many years after living in Indiana Silas and his brother
Andrew, decided to make a trip out to Iowa by train. There
they expected to visit their brother, Robert, who had chosen
to settle there rather than follow the Briggs clan to Indiana.
Since their arrival was unexpected and their appearance altered
with maturity they decided to have some fun by posing as
cattle buyers from the east. When they got off the train in
the little village they asked the stationmaster where Robert
Briggs lived. Finding that it was about a mile down the road
they walked. There they were met by their brother who re-
sponded heartily to their cattle buying inquiry. Since it
was late in the day, Silas and Andrew asked if they could get
a meal there and accommodations for the night. During the
meal the brothers asked leading questions of Robert trying
to elicit information of his life in Ross County, Ohio and his
association there. By the time the meal was finished Andrew
and Silas had to divulge who they really were. There was
great rejoicing over this surprise reunion for a couple of days.
Andrew and Robert were disgusted with Silas because he cut
the visit short, announcing that he had to get home as it
was time to put the bucks in with the ewes.
By 1869 the Briggs family had prospered enough to build a
stately Victorian home of brick with white trim and green
shutters. It accommodated the needs of the everyday life as
well as the social life of this growing menage. A brick
spring house and a commodious brick summer kitchen matched
the style of the house. Three porches, two of which had white
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7. Briggs page 34
painted columns with ornate wooden capital, were extensions
of the house Here more boys were born and grew to maturity.
The high point of Briggs life in this home occurred in
1902 when Silas and Rebecca celebrated their golden wedding
anniversary. All of their children with their spouses and
the grandchildren came home. Also present were aunts, uncles,
cousins and neighbors. The day was spent in feasting, visiting
and in picture taking. A professional photographer was on
hand to record a picture of Silas and Rebecca with their
grown children and another picture of them with the families
of all their children revealing a considerable number of the
third generation.
Not long after this occasion the Briggs retired from the
farm moving into a large Victorian house at the southwest
corner of Chauncey and Ellsworth Streets. Silas distributed his
land holding to his six sons who could now have farms of their
own. Gifts of other equal property were arranged for the
daughters. Rebecca didn't live long as pneumonia claimed her
life. She had worked so hard for so many year that she was
completely worn out. Their son Charles and his wife
Mattie with their little boy came to look after Silas.
This grandson, Charles Robert Briggs, recalled in 1979
some interesting and pertinent information about his grandfather
Briggs. He remembered him as a man of five feet eight inches
in height who walked with a limp using a cane. The limp was
caused by a broken hip which happened in his youth. Some
fellows were tusseling with Silas trying to take away some
hides belonging to him. In the struggle he slipped, hurting
himself in the fall.
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7. Briggs page 35
Silas had blue eyes and a disfiguring mole on his chin
which he covered with a growth of hair that was trimmed into
a distinguished goatee. On Sundays he put on his best suit,
shined his shoes, took his cane, walked to Grace Lutheran
Church.
Apparently Grandfather Briggs was as particular about the
appearance of his yard in town as he had been about the
one on the farm. He seemed to think that little Robert's
small red wagon made tracks in the grass. So it wasn't
surprising that the wagon disappeared. Robert later found
it hidden in the barn.
Silas died in 1913 in his eighty seventh year in
Columbia City. He was buried in the northeast section of the
old part of Eel River Cemetery.
Sources: Briggs Family history, Nickey Family History.
Relatives: Clara and Charles Robert Birggs and
Dr. Orville Briggs, local historian and
genealogist, Mrs. Nellie Raber.
visits to his childhood home in Ross
County, Ohio, andhis home in Union
Township, Whitley County, Indiana
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7. Briggs page 36
HOMESTAD OF PIONEER SILAS BRIGGS
(Writen for a tour of old homes conducted by the whitley
County Historical Society, Sept. 16, 1979 by his great
granddaughter, Margaret Kaler-Langohr)
Silas Briggs, needing larger accommodations for his
growing family of eleven children had this house built in
1869. The home reflects the rising affluence of the pioneer
who had come from Ross County, Ohio in 1848. At that time
three brothers, Jesse, James and Andrew and two sisters,
Sarah Briggs McClain (Mrs. Hugh) and Elizabeth Briggs Nickey
(Mrs. Jacob) had preceded him, settling farms neighboring to
this one.
Chauncey Goodrich was engaged as contractor. Wagon loads
of brick were hauled from Ft. Wayne for th exterior surface
and to construct the ten inch wide partitions which formed
the ten foot high walls.
During the course of building, workmen discovered a
partially washed out Indian grave. Silas, to had always
made of point of getting along with the Indians in the
neighborhood, forbad the workers to disturb the site. He
felt that the Indians might be offended at the desecration of
their dead. In his absence, the men dug up the grave hoping
to discover relics. Only a few bones, a skull, a couple of
metal rings and some beads were in it. The rings were traded
for a Bible. The skull became part of a collection of a
Larwill resident.
The foundation of the house is made of rocks and stones
gathered from the fields. A full basement is under the house,
containing three large rooms and a cistern.
On the first floor is a sizable kitchen complete with a
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7. Briggs page 37
pantry on the north side of the house. The front parlor faces
the south. Between these two rooms are the dining room that
formerly was the living room, a stairway and another room
which was probably a bedroom. Four bedrooms are up stairs,
one of which was originally reach by a back stairway from
the kitchen.
A matching brick summer kitchen of generous proportions
was built several feet form the east side of the house,
opposite the kitchen door. Part of the original fireplace
used for cooking and heating can still be seen on the eat
wall. the family ate at a long tressel table that had benches
at ether side. Renovations by occupants in modern times
joined the summer kitchen to the house making a utility
room from the resultant space.
D r. Jesse Briggs of Churubusco used to recall helping
his mother with the prodigious feats of cooking in this
kitchen. On Saturdays it was necessary to start at four A.M.
working all day making bread for the week and a variety of
foods for feasts to serve the many relatives and friends
who came on Sundays. Baking more than thirty pies was not an
unusual task: they were gone by Sunday night. Everyone was
welcome at any time to share a good country meal with the
Briggs.
The present owner, David Bilger, has cleverly extended
the north and south walls of the summer kitchen with matching
brick to make a two-car garage. Note that the window frames
are of the same style as those of the house. Through the
years changes have been made by a succession of owners. Two
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7. Briggs page 38
bathrooms have been added, the back stairway closed and
modern plumbing and electricity installed. the ten inch
brick partitions have been a deterrent to much interior
structural change.
Taking advantage of a natural spring at the bottom
of the slope on the north side of the house, a brick spring
house was built. The spring is still there but the structure
has disappeared with the years. In its interior was a trough
into which the spring water was piped. A run-off pipe kept
the water level. Buckets of milk crocks of cream or butter
as well as other foods were kept cooler than the outside
temperature in summer.
C harles Robert Briggs, a grandson of Silas Briggs,
Possesses an early photograph of this home which was considered
a sow place. The picture reveals that the kitchen porch was
enclosed with lattice work and had a circular top on a
lattice door. The porch on the opposite side of the house
being smaller served as an entry way to the living room. In
style it related to the larger on eon the south side, with
square columns whose capitals were fashioned in ornate scroll
work of wood. The bases of the porches were enclosed with
lattice panels. Green shutters at all of the windows emphasize
the vertical lines of the house. Three differently placed
chimneys allowed for use of heating stoves in the main rooms.
the roof extended over a wide white painted cornice.
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Nickey
8. Nickey page 39
JOHANNE NIEKE
b. Sohland, Lobau
GEORGE NIEKE m. June 21, 1735 JOHANNA ELEANORA DONATHE
b. 1710 b. Oct. 30, 1713
Saxony Reichenback
America 1743 Saxony
d. 1773 d. May 1, 1790
Lancester, Pa. Cumberland Co. Pa.
Children: 1. Johann George b.1738
2. Gottfried b. Feb. 28, 1740
3. David b. Sept. 2, 1741
4. Elizabeth D. 1745
5. Johanna E. b. 1744
6. John b. 1748
7. George b. 1749
George and his dauntless wife Johanna Eleanora Donathe,
were founders of the Nickey family in the United States.
Johanna's father was a master clothmaker in Lusatia, Saxony.
Their feet first felt the solid ground of America under
them on bleak Nov. 26, 1743 when they left the small sailing
vessel "Little Strength" anchored off Long Island, after ten
weeks of rough weather in crossing the Atlantic from Rotterdam.
They had come as Moravian missionaries to Bethlehem, Pa. where
they became Lutherans.
* * *
DAVID NICKEY m. 1764 MARY ELIZABETH
b. Sept. 2, 1741
Hernbut, Saxony
b. Dec 1803 d. 1810
Augusta Co. Virginia
Children: 1. Samuel b. 1766
2. Eleanora b. 1770 Lancaster, Pa.
3. Sarah b. 1774
From infancy David Nickey was reared in the orphanage,
or Children's House at Herrnbut or in some other Moravian
School. He was a part of the Moravian System. He scarcely knew
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7. Nickey page 40
the names of his parents. When he arrived in America with
his three year old son, Samuel, in 1769, he was a man, 28,
a father himself, as he met for the first time his own
parents now aged and thinking of death. He settled in Lan-
caster, Pa. and served in the Revolutionary War under General
Rand of Lancaster in the Medical Corp. Afterwards probably
practiced medicine among the German pioneers. In old age he
settled on 245 acres belonging to Michael and Elizabeth
Keinadt, grandfather and mother of Ann C. Balsey.
* * *
SAMUEL NICKEY m. Jan. 1, 1806 ANN C. BALSEY
b. 1766 b. May 1, 1781
Bavaria, Germany Lancaster, Pa.
d. Feb. 17, 1832 d. Feb. 27, 1861
Augusta Co. Va. Whitley Co., Ind.
Children: 1. David b. Apr. 22, 1808
2. Samuel b. June 12, 1809
3. Christian b. Feb. 10, 1811
4. Mary Ann b. July 12, 1812
5. Jacob b. July 1, 1814
6. Rebecca b. Nov. 17, 1815
7. Julia Ann b. Apr. 4, 1819
8. Catherine b. Feb. 22, 1822
9. Rose Ann b. Jan. 19, 1818
10. Henry b. June 15, 1826
Samuel's family first settled in Pennsylvania but soon
afterward moved to Augusta Co. Va. where he married Ann C.
Balsey. The Balsey's were said to be cultured, well educated
and well-to-do people.
Samuel Nickey died in Augusta Co. Feb. 17, 1831
Already his children had begun settling in Ross Co. Ohio. Soon
after his death Ann and the unmarried children went to Ross Co.
and in the fall of 1834 came to Whitely Co., Ind. where
other members of the family were settling to take advantage
of the cheap land that was available.
(for more details on the life of Samuel and Ann Nickey
see Bertha Kaler's account of her grandmother, Rebecca Nickey)
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8. Nickey page 41
SAMUEL NICKEY m. Jan. 1, 1832 ELIZABETH GRADELESS
b. June 12, 1809 b. May 10, 1814
Augusta Co. Va.
d. Aug. 24, 1864 d. Mar. 17, 1861
Whitley Co., Ind. Whitley Co., Ind.
Children 1: Martha
2. William
3. Rebecca b. Sept. 27, 1835
4. David b. July 6, 1837
5. Mary b. Nov. 18, 1840
6. Addison Boyd b. Aug. 22, 1844
This family moved to Whitley Co., Indiana in 1833 coming
before the Briggs whom they knew in Ross Co.,Ohio. There
is a description of Samuel in Bertha Kaler's account of her
grandmother, Rebecca Nickey, which starts on the next page.
This account was written on Kaler Katering stationary
probably after receiving the Nickey Family History. The
rough draft is treasured by Margaret Kaler-Langohr and
was copied for this compilation.
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8. Nickey page 42
REBECCA NICKEY BRIGGS
BY
BERTHA MOSSMAN KALER
I want to write about my "most unfrogettable character",
my grandmotehr Rebecca Brigs, so that my children
and grandchidlren my know what a rich heritage in character they
have received from her.
I hope I can bring to them how different living was in
those early days without any of our modern conveniences--
the long hours of heavy and hard work for those pioneer
families, especially those filled with ambition to get ahead
in the world, to obtain land for home for those many children
they had.
My grandmother was born Nov. 21, 1835 in Whitley Co.,
Indiana, the oldest children of Samuel Nickey and Elziabeth
Gradeless--she had one sister Mary and two brothers, Addison
and David Nickey.
She was married at the age of 17 to my grandfather,
Silas Briggs, son of Samuel and Agnes Shephard Briggs from
Ross Co., Ohio.
My grandfather moved to Whitely Co. before his marriage.
The farm he purchased was almost unbroken wilderness. On this
he built a log cabin where some of the children were born. Later
he built one of the finest brick homes in the country. By
his abounding energy and with the help of his wife and chidlren
they cleared the forest, added additional land. He owned 600
acres of the best land in the county, had two large well
stocked barns and other buildins, and it was his proud boast
that he didn't have a weed on teh place. I think my grand-
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8. Nickey page 43
father was a good business man as well as farmer--he had
the keenest deep blue ey3s and amazing vitality.
I can remember by father (his son-in-law) saying once that
Silas Briggs was one of the highest respected men in Whitley
County and that his word was as good as his bond.
I had often wondered at my grandmother's intense re-
ligious fervor through all her life of toil, bearing children,
8 boys and 5 girls and losing only two days. When quite young
her religion was her solace and strength. A few years ago a
Nickey family history was published by Ella Metsker Milligan,
Instructor Emeritus in History of the Fine Arts of the
University of Denver and herself a descendant of the Nickey
family. After reading this and being a believer in heredity
rather than environment, I can see why my grandmother would
not have been any other than deeply religious. Her forebears
to this country were Moravian Missionaries and helped establish
a church in the new world--George Nickey, the first to come
over, was an ordained pastor.
But to go back away, her grandmother Ann Balsey was the
daughter of Christian Balsey, a Swiss Ensign of the 2nd
company, 3rd Battalion, Lancaster County Militia, Pa. He
was in the service of the colony from June 1775 to Dec. 1782.
He fired the first shot at the Battle of Long Island and
was known for his skill with firearms.
Ann Balsey was the oldest child of this marriage. Their
home was Reading, Pa. Her parents were well to do and she
grew up in an atmosphere of culture and refinement. She
sent her early years in the Swiss School of the Cloisters
at Ephraty.
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8. Nickey page 44
She later moved to Carlisle, Pa. and went into business
there. Carlisle at this time reflected the social and com-
mercial life of Philadelphia and was lavish in gaiety and good
living. Here Ann attended Dickinson College. She was interested
in her church work and sports and in this atmosphere the
character, that was to know real pioneering, wad formed.
Later her father moved to the Shenadoah Valley in
Virginia, Augusta Co. Her he built a Swiss chalet. Their
home was the center of the much social activity and her friends
the Porterfield girls, daughter of Gen. Porterfi
eld of
Staunton came often for an outing.
On one of these occasions they brought Dr. Samuel
Nickey from Lancaster, Pa. with them--his father and David
Nickey d been surgeons to the 3rd Battalion of Lancaster
troops during the Revolutionary War. Out of this visit the
romance of Dr. Nickey and Ann Balsey rapidly developed and
on New Year's day 1806 they were married.
For this wedding there were lavish preparations of
game, pastries, cheeses and cordials. The cream of Virginia
society attended, Ann was gowned in stiff white silk with
high waist, girdled under the bust, low neck and puff. The
bride's ruddy complexion, lustrous grey eyes and walnut brown
hair glinted with red seemed brilliantly beautiful. The
groom was clad in gray silk breeches and hose, short red
wesket, black cut away frock coat and tall black silk hat.
Dr. Nickey served in the War of 1812 and afterward they
settled near Staunton and raised a family of sons and daughters.
Dr. Nickey died in 1832. With keen and clear decision inherited
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8. Nickey page 45
for her soldier father, Ann decided to take her family to
the Northwest Territory. they settled first at Ross Co. Ohio
where one of the girls and three of the sons married in 1834.
the next year they all decided to move farther north to
Indiana. Here in the midst of her family soon united again
in a community of families, she prompted and abetted their
religious and educational enterprises and enjoyed their
children.
The name Nickey studs the pages of history in Whitley
County in which they shared responsibility of the development
of government and education in an outstanding way. Many of
their homes were copies of the homes they left in Shendoah,
red brick mansions, white trimmed and green shutters. In the
foreground evergreen trees, surrounded by well kept fields.
My great grandfather, Samuel Nickey, father of Rebecca
had imagination and foresight. through his creative ability
in diversified farming and was able to accumulate a lovely
farm home of several hundred acres and build a house similar
to the handsome homes of his family in Shenandoah Valley.
He was intensely religious and helped build and also gave land
for the M.E. Church at old Concord cross roads. The church as
long since disappeared but across the road from where it
stood, in the old cemetery sleep many of the Nickeys and
Briggs whose families intermarried and took such an integral
part in the settling of this part of the country setting
a high standard of clean living and righteous thinking. Of
my great grandmother, Elizabeth, I know nothing, but I inherited
a very fine picture in a large oval frame of my grandfather
Nickey, taken about middle age. He appears to have been a
very handsome man, keen-eye, tho rather austere.
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8. Nickey page 46
My Aunt Desdie, his eldest grandchild gave me perhaps
the truest picture of his character--she had spent some time
with her grandparents as a child--she said he was such a noble
person, king to those abut him, intensely religious, he
never allowed any except necessary work of feeding livestock--
done on Sundays and all of the family those that worked for
him were taken to church every Sunday.
I have tried to give what little I know of my grandmother's
people so that we may understand better the background of
their educational and religious aspirations that helped form
her fine character. Tho' she was denied any advanced education
due to the hard life of a pioneer family in getting a start in
this new country and her early marriage precluded her from it,
yet knowing her grandmother had had a higher education, no
doubt made her wish for it and for her own children. She was
always fond of reading, I never received a letter from her
that she did not enclosed a few clippings of poems or
articles she thought might help me.
I wish I were able to clarify my own thinking so that
I could be able to five you a true picture of her as it
stands so vividly in my mind.
When I think of really what a few hours of my life I
ever spent in her compnay, twice that I remember staying all
night--an then our large fmaily gatherings at Thanksgiving
and other time through the year-yet I feel I knew her,
so well from small impressions that form in a child's mind
and grow and stay with them through a ife time shapting one's
character and manner of thinking.
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8. Nickey page 47
Our whole manner of living was vastly different from
the present day, that I doubt if you children can ever
realize it--no radio, autos, airplanes, movies, rural mail
delivery, telephones, or any of the myriads of conveniences
that we accept as such a necessary part of our lives now.
We had to drive with a horse and buggy or carriage,
seven or eight miles, over dirt roads that often in winter were
almost impassable. We canned or stored all our fruits and
vegetables that we had to raise and garner, no lazy person
had any standing or respect.
When I think of this gentle well bred girl, Rebecca, Marrying
so young and bearing eleven children, helping to carve out
a home in the wilderness, i am mazed that she had the spirit
and fortitude to carry on so cheerfully as she always seemed
to do. I know little of these earlier years except what I
heard from my mother, how they made their own clothes,
helped clear the ground and do much heavy work so that when
I was a children, they had a beautiful brick home set in a
spacious lawn, surrounded by well kept flower beds and evergreen
trees of all kinds--Barns were always well painted and
large fields under cultivation. I doubt if in all Whitley
County there was a more prosperous appearing or better kept farm
As the boys and girls of the family married and settled
on farms near my grandfather's, we really had a large crowd when
all the aunts and uncles and children got together for out
Sundays in the summer or at Thanksgiving and what really
feasts there w ere and what hours of preparation they must have
entailed--The daughters and daughters-in-law were all excellent
cooks and vied with each other in making the most delicious
cakes--Aunt Desdie always brought a huge roasted turkey and
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8. Nickey page 48
grandmother had one or two besides baked hams--pumpkin and
mince pies, cookies, etc.--so while we children played, our
elders prepared the feast--after dinner and dishes were done
we assembled in the parlor and Aunt Desdie played the old
family organ and the boys sand--usually all church pieces--
the boys had exceptionally fine voices, rich and melodious--
I can remember grandmother's look of supreme happiness as she
looked with such pride on her dear ones. The day always seemed
much too short, for by four o'clock we usually had to be on
our long jurney home to take care of the stock.
Grandmother had a young woman that lived with them many
years as "hired girl" as well called them, but Grandmother was
the driving force behind all the work around her house-up at
four o'clock every morning starting fires, getting the boys
up and to their chores around the barn, and a great breakfast
usually of ham, and sausages and eggs, fried potatoes etc.
to fortify them for the day's work. At noon another big meal
to prepare and again at night--add to this milking, making
butter, raising children, gathering eggs, washing, ironing,
baking, sewing canning, hard grueling work all day long
and a great part of her young life carrying children--caring
for them.
It seemed to me that more and more was expected of her
yet thru it all she never seemed to lose her cheerful spirit,
company was always welcome and well fed--many of the most
influential and prominent people in the country were frequent
visitors and their were many that were farming people, cattle
buyers, would stop in for breakfast--no charge was ever made--
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8. Nickey Page 49
no one was too humble or too great in the design of her
kindness and charity
I don't think anyone ever came that she didn't give them
something to take home, vegetables, fruit, eggs, meat, all
went away with them-buggies filled with the fruit of her labor.
This was just a joyous giving to her with no thought of
recompense yet 'bread cast upon waters will return". It did to
her and her dear ones for they have been abundantly cared for.
While her life to many may have seemed nothing but hard
work, I think her compensation came in the delight she
took in all her children whom she loved dearly.
Her pride and joy was her last child, Jesse Howard, Their
deep affection for each other was mutual, he was her baby, the
apple of her eye and as he grew in strength and manhood he did
many things to lighten her load. By dint of his careful
saving, aided and abetted by her, he was able to go to
college and medical school--her "croix de Guerre", purple
heart came to her when she received his always high scholastic
reports.
When he had finished his medical studies and had come
home to pack his belonging preparatory to going to
Churubusco, Ind. to take up his life's work as a doctor
in that community, I happened to have stayed at Grandmother's
that night. In the morning she and I stood alone after he
had bade us good-bye and started up the road, driving his
little black horse in his top buggy-waiving until he was out
of sight, she had thrown her toil worn hands and apron over
her head, cheerful until he had gone, the bitter tears coursed
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8. Nickey page 50
down her cheeks--I tried to comfort her, but she said,
"always before he came back and this was home, but it won't
be the same any more."
Her years of toil were abut at an end. Grandfather
bought a nice residential property in Columbia City, Ind.,
furnished it nicely and they moved there--but she only lived
about two years after leaving the farm--I doubt is she was
as happy there in this strange new environment as she was
at the farm that she helped to create into a beautiful
home with all the rich memories if had for her of her children
and friend. I was at their home the day she took sick, she
was still up and around the house, but soon her darling
Jesse came and saw how very ill she was, he picked her up
in his strong arms and carried her up stairs and put her in
bed. All the children came and cared for her most tenderly
but mercifully she only lived a few days longer. The longer I
live, the more I realize that whatever of goodness and
truth she passed on to her children will be multiplied in
their destinies a thousand fold. Her frail body is gone but
her life and teaching go on inexhaustible.
When a life has reached its span, fulfilled itself, there
should be no sadness, for death is but a part of living.
Love and religion where the two abiding forces in grand-
mothers' life, there was always so much love expressed between
the brothers and sisters and in the family life--she always
greeted us with so much deep affection, and it was the
greatest occasion of my life to get to go to my grandmother's.
Jesse only two years older than I was, was my dear playmate.
I wish I could convey to you, my dear children, the pictures
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8. Nickey page 51
I carry in my mind of a great fire blazing on the hearth
in the kitchen, grandmother getting a good dinner ready for
us' grandfather going down cellar and bringing up a basket
of choice apples and his peeling them and having me try wedges
form the different kids. He would bring out a hunk of dried
beef and whittle off some pieces for us to eat and nothing
ever tasted so sweet and delicious.
After diner was over, Jesse and I would perch out on the
top step of the porch and watch the great yellow moon of
early fall rise over our little world with its mellow light,
throwing into sharp relief and forest in the background.
The home was on a small hillside and the old milk house
in the far corner of the yard with a natural spring in it, where
the milk was strained and kept cool. Uncle Charlie told me
once about standing on the hillside in early evening and
hearing grandmother graying fervently. To me this was such
a poignant picture of the awed barefoot boy listening while
his mother took her troubles to God-one of my aunts told me
that before their big he was built, they lived in a
log cabin in the woods and the night before Steve was born,
grandmother took her small children and knelt down by stamp
in the woods and prayed so earnestly, that she had never
forgotten it. It is no wonder her spiriet was troubled, always
the work, work, until she felt she could do no more, heavy
with children and the uncertainties birth involves--but so
great was her faith that she received "the peace that knot
no understanding." Her religion was something real and
definite and necessary, a source to draw the help she needed.
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8. Nickey page 52
On the date of their fiftieth wedding anniversary the
family held a celebration at the family home, the now
grown up family of six sons and three daughters, their
families and many friends gathered to partake of the feast
prepared. Dr. Heathcox, out Lutheran minister gave an ap-
propriate talk of their life and its accomplishments and
Dr. Jesse, with a most beautiful speech of appreciation
to them, presented his father with a gold headed cane and
his mother with a gold ring. Dr. Jesse has since fittingly given
this to the granddaughter, Rebecca Briggs, her only name-
sake--which ring she greatly treasures.
There are many things I wish I had the ability to
portray more adequately but I hope I have told you a few
things you will want to know osmetime about your great
grandmother. I know I would appreciate more than anything
in the world if I had had some such message for and bout
my great grandparents.
(See SILAS BRIGGS page 29 for genealogical dates).
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BiographicalSection II
BIOGRPAHICAL SECTION
PART II
We, the three children of Walpole Kaler and Bertha
Mossman, come now to our more immediate ancestors to tell
you what we remember about them and how out lives have
turned out. We concluded this compilation with the biographies of:
Parents of Walpole Kaler and Bertha Mossman:
Smauel P. kaler- Elizabeth Alice Kerr
James Albert Mossman- Sarah Elizabeth Birggs
WALPOLE KALER- BERTHA MOSSMAN
Children of Walpoke Kaler and Bertha Mossman:
William Kale- Harriet Montgomery
James KAler- Shirley Smith
Margaret Kaler- John Langohr
We sincrely hope our children and grandchidlren will
have an apprecaiton for their "root" and will be encouraged
to keep these records up to date for future descendants of
this family.
WILLIAM M. KALER, Clinton, New York
JAMES B, KALER, Grosse Pointe., Michigan
MARGARET KALER-LANGOHR, Columbia City, Indiana
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