Miami County, Ohio Genealogical Researchers -- Sponsored by the Computerized Heritage Association


    JOHN ROSS

    John Ross, farmer; P. O. West Charleston. He was born in Bethel Township July 22, 1814, and is a son of John and Sarah Ross; they were natives of Pennsylvania, but removed to Kentucky, and from there came to Ohio and settled in Warren Co., where the town of Franklin now stands; his father, Robert Ross, laid out the town in 1811, John Ross came to Bethel Township, Miami Co., and purchased 320 acres in two separate tracts, and located on the one where his son now resides; although they were not the earliest settlers, they were the first to make any improvements worthy of mention; he was one of the parties called out to pursue the Indians, at the time of the Dilbone and Gerard massacre; their cabin served as a retreat for the women and children of the neighborhood, while the men were gone; this farm continued to be their home to the end of their lives; he died in 1849, at the age of 72, and she in 1872, at the age of 90; it is also the birthplace of our subject; this was one of the most heavily timbered countries to be found anywhere, and also thickly set with underbrush, which made it all the more difficult to clear; however, by the hard knocks and unceasing energy of the pioneers, it has been stripped of its forests and made a desirable locality of this work, Mr. Ross has done a good share; he owns 140 acres of the quarter-section inhabited by his father, which he has under good cultivation, and also well improved; besides this, he has 160 acres in another section of this township, and is doing a thriving, business as a farmer; he has a harvest of about 100 acres of wheat, also some rye and barley, besides the spring crop. In the early part of March, 1845, he married Eliza DeLong, also a native of this township, and the daughter of George and Elizabeth DeLong, who came here in an early day from Virginia; the fruits of this marriage are twelve children, viz., Ann M., Harrison C., Robert, John L., Benjamin Franklin, Sarah E., Mary Alethia, George W., Eliza, Thomas Jefferson, Fannie and Charles; Harrison C. entered the service of his country Aug. 10, 1863, and died in July, 1864; he was a member of Co. K, 1st O. V. H. A.

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