Sunday, September 11, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Next time you need a loaf of bread...
The old sandstone marker at the grave of Jacob Foust (d. 1841) tells us in words and in symbol—oak leaves—that Foust led a long life.
In memory of
JACOB FOUST
died April 22, 1841,
in the 86 year of his
age.
Wondering whether one of my go-to accounts of early Delaware County would shed some light on Mr. Foust’s life, I turned to History of Delaware County and Ohio.
Bingo! The following passage helped to bring Jacob Foust back to life, if only in my mind’s eye.
Jacob Foust, with a large family, came to what is now Ohio from Pennsylvania as early as 1799. Upon his arrival at the Ohio River, he found it so swollen by rains that he was forced to camp until it subsided. Crossing near Wheeling and plunging into the forest, he started in the direction Zanesville, at which place he arrived after countless trials, and quarter his family in a blacksmith shop. In a short time, he moved to Ross County, where he remained until the spring of 1807, when he came up to the forks of the Whetstone,1 and squatted on land belonging to the Campbell heirs. He immediately put up a cabin, and then set to work clearing his land, gaining material assistance from his four stalwart sons. The first season, they cleared some five or six acres and planted it with corn. Everything grew finely, and there promised to be a large yield, but the squirrels and racoons which had gotten such a high appreciation of corn from the destruction of the crop of Nathaniel Wyatt, came down in great numbers and destroyed the entire growth. All his family are now dead.
The passage goes on to relate what is a touching story of a husband’s devotion to his wife.
The following story, illustrative of pioneer life, was told by Foust to Judge Powell many years ago. Soon after he had settled and raised his cabin, his wife was taken with a sever attach of chills and fever, and from that cause, she became dyspeptic. They had an abundance of corn-bread in the house, but this, she said, did not agree with her. She told her husband that what she needed was some wheat bread. Foust knew that there was no flour within fifty or sixty miles, but from devotion to his wife, he determined to overcome all obstacles, and get the desired article. He took a bag of wheat on his back, went to Zanesville2 to get it ground, and then brought it back to his wife.
Next time you need a loaf of bread, think of Jacob Foust.
From the archives. Read about my first visit to Mound Cemetery. My daughter and I visited last September, searching for the graves of early Ohio ancestors.
1 The Whetstone River was later renamed. Today we know it as the Olentangy.
2 From the “forks of the Whetstone” in Delaware County, Ohio to Zanesville? About seventy miles on today’s roads.
Mound (or Foust) Cemetery, Morrow County, Ohio
JACOB FOUST
died April 22, 1841,
in the 86 year of his
age.
Wondering whether one of my go-to accounts of early Delaware County would shed some light on Mr. Foust’s life, I turned to History of Delaware County and Ohio.
Bingo! The following passage helped to bring Jacob Foust back to life, if only in my mind’s eye.
Jacob Foust, with a large family, came to what is now Ohio from Pennsylvania as early as 1799. Upon his arrival at the Ohio River, he found it so swollen by rains that he was forced to camp until it subsided. Crossing near Wheeling and plunging into the forest, he started in the direction Zanesville, at which place he arrived after countless trials, and quarter his family in a blacksmith shop. In a short time, he moved to Ross County, where he remained until the spring of 1807, when he came up to the forks of the Whetstone,1 and squatted on land belonging to the Campbell heirs. He immediately put up a cabin, and then set to work clearing his land, gaining material assistance from his four stalwart sons. The first season, they cleared some five or six acres and planted it with corn. Everything grew finely, and there promised to be a large yield, but the squirrels and racoons which had gotten such a high appreciation of corn from the destruction of the crop of Nathaniel Wyatt, came down in great numbers and destroyed the entire growth. All his family are now dead.
The passage goes on to relate what is a touching story of a husband’s devotion to his wife.
The following story, illustrative of pioneer life, was told by Foust to Judge Powell many years ago. Soon after he had settled and raised his cabin, his wife was taken with a sever attach of chills and fever, and from that cause, she became dyspeptic. They had an abundance of corn-bread in the house, but this, she said, did not agree with her. She told her husband that what she needed was some wheat bread. Foust knew that there was no flour within fifty or sixty miles, but from devotion to his wife, he determined to overcome all obstacles, and get the desired article. He took a bag of wheat on his back, went to Zanesville2 to get it ground, and then brought it back to his wife.
Next time you need a loaf of bread, think of Jacob Foust.
From the archives. Read about my first visit to Mound Cemetery. My daughter and I visited last September, searching for the graves of early Ohio ancestors.
1 The Whetstone River was later renamed. Today we know it as the Olentangy.
2 From the “forks of the Whetstone” in Delaware County, Ohio to Zanesville? About seventy miles on today’s roads.
Mound (or Foust) Cemetery, Morrow County, Ohio
Friday, September 9, 2011
A small zinc marker
At first glance, I guessed the zinc marker was for a child because of its small size. Looking more closely, I realized it was placed for a woman, Caroline Amanda Buck (b. 1827, d. 1898). Because no husband was named on the gravestone, I wondered whether she was a spinster or a widow when she died.
CAROLINE
AMANDA
BUCK,
BORN
FEBRUARY 12, 1827,
DIED
JULY 6, 1898.
Within a few minutes, Ancestry.com coughs up hints that Ms. Buck was a widow, that her husband died during the Civil War. FamilySearch.org provides a probably marriage record: On April 15, 1847, Andrew M. Buck married Amanda Waters in Marion, Ohio.
Ancestry provides Mr. Buck’s military record: He enlisted in the Union Army (as a musician) in October, 1861; he died of disease in Kentucky, February, 1862.
Mrs. Buck, who evidently never remarried, lived as a widow for over thirty years. Federal Census records offer a glimpse—but only a glimpse—into her life. In 1870 she was head of the household, “keeping house,” and raising three daughters (17, 14, and 10 years old). In 1880, her daughters grown, Mrs. Buck, 52 years old, was living with her eldest daughter’s family.
Ashley Union Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio
AMANDA
BUCK,
BORN
FEBRUARY 12, 1827,
DIED
JULY 6, 1898.
Within a few minutes, Ancestry.com coughs up hints that Ms. Buck was a widow, that her husband died during the Civil War. FamilySearch.org provides a probably marriage record: On April 15, 1847, Andrew M. Buck married Amanda Waters in Marion, Ohio.
 |
| Marriage record from FamilySearch.org |
Ancestry provides Mr. Buck’s military record: He enlisted in the Union Army (as a musician) in October, 1861; he died of disease in Kentucky, February, 1862.
 |
| Military record from Ancestry.com |
Mrs. Buck, who evidently never remarried, lived as a widow for over thirty years. Federal Census records offer a glimpse—but only a glimpse—into her life. In 1870 she was head of the household, “keeping house,” and raising three daughters (17, 14, and 10 years old). In 1880, her daughters grown, Mrs. Buck, 52 years old, was living with her eldest daughter’s family.
Ashley Union Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Jane Steward
A classic urn-and-willow design draws your eye to the gravestone for Jane Steward (d. 1851).
Daughter of
Spencer &
Nancy Steward
Died Feb. 4th 1851.
Aged 15 yrs, 7 m,
& 16 ds.
They die in Jesus and are blessed
How calm their slumbers are
From sufferings and from sins
released. And fread from evry snare
The epitaph is from a hymn by Isaac Watts (b. 1674, d. 1748), a prolific hymn writer with 750 hymns to his credit—and an untold number of epitaphs.
Hear what the voice from heaven proclaims
For all the pious dead;
Sweet is the savour of their names,
And soft their sleeping bed.
They die in Jesus, and are blessed;
How calm their slumbers are!
From sufferings and from sins released,
And freed from every snare.
Far from this world of toil and strife,
They’re present with the Lord;
The labours of their mortal life
End in a large reward.
Census records show that sometime before 1860, the Steward family, a large family with many children, left their farm in Ohio to settle in Iowa.
Blue Church Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Wednesday’s child: Clara Gast
The small marker at the grave of Clara Gast (d. 1873) has weathered a bit, making the inscription less crisp than it once was. It is worth a read, especially its personalized epitaph. Sweet, if not entirely original.
CLARA
[daughter of]
D. & C. M. GAST
DIED
MAR. 14, 1873
AGED
9 mo. 29 D’s
Weep not she is at rest the
Lord has taken Clara home
Clara’s unique, casually draped gravestone is striking in its simplicity.
Prospect Cemetery, Marion County, Ohio
[daughter of]
D. & C. M. GAST
DIED
MAR. 14, 1873
AGED
9 mo. 29 D’s
Weep not she is at rest the
Lord has taken Clara home
Clara’s unique, casually draped gravestone is striking in its simplicity.
Prospect Cemetery, Marion County, Ohio
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