Fountain County IN Archives Biographies.....Schermerhorn, Jacob J. 1830 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com November 16, 2006, 6:57 am Author: H. W. Beckwith (1881) Jacob J. Schermerhorn, farmer and stock raiser, Newtown, son of James B. and Catharine (Schermerhorn) Schermerhorn, was born in Schenectady county, New York, in 1830. His forefathers were Dutch colonists, who emigrated and settled in Schenectady in 1620. Many of his ancestors were living in the place when it was burned by the French and Indians in 1690, and they have been numerous who have borne arms in the early wars. Mr. Schermerhorn is the ninth generation from the Holland emigrants. He was an orphan at eleven, and from that time until he was seventeen attended different academies and secured a good education. In 1847 he came west, and stopping in Tippecanoe county, north of Shawnee Mound, taught school winters and worked at farming summers for four years; there, in December, 1851, he married Martha Odell, by whom he had two children: Allen Campbell, and one younger, which died in infancy. This wife died in June, 1854, and he was married again March 24, 1856, to Achsah A. Insley, who was born in Richland township in January 1834. She was the second daughter of Ellis and Rebecca (Stafford) Insley, who emigrated to this township from Highland county, Ohio, in 1831. Job Insley, the earliest one of this name of whom there is any account in the family, was from Maine. The Staffords were from North Carolina. Ellis Insley first settled three miles east of Newtown, where his first child, Miriam E., was born in 1832. Next year he removed to the place where Robert Parnell lives, and resided on it till 1865, when he sold it to the present occupant. From this time he made his home on a farm near Indianapolis. He died at Mr. Schermerhorn's in 1868, while there on a visit, and was buried in his own lot in Crown Hill cemetery, Indianapolis. His daughter Miriam is the wife of the Rev. L. Nebeker, at present residing at the Battle Ground. He had one son, William Q., who became a physician. He married Celia Whitmore, of Fort Wayne, and lived in Terre Haute from 1864 till his death, June 20, 1880. He was buried in Crown Hill cemetery beside his father. His widow has five children. Mr. Insley gave his children a liberal education. His daughters were educated at Fort Wayne College, and his son at Greencastle and Ann Arbor, finishing his medical course at Cincinnati. His fourth child, Sarah E., born in May, 1840, became the wife of Capt. Kirkpatrick, who was killed at Kenesaw Mountain. She died at her sister's (Mrs. Schermerhorn) house in August 1869, and was buried by the side of her father and brother in Crown Hill cemetery. Mr. Insley's first wife was the daughter of Shadrach Stafford, and was born in Highland county, Ohio, where she also was married. She was a sweet-spirited, christian woman. She died in March 1846, and was buried at Newtown. His second wife, whom he married about 1849, and whose maiden name was Anna Smith, was from Cherry valley, New York, and is living with her aged father near Pleasant Hill. Mr. Schermerhorn had two sisters and two brothers: the eldest was Angelica B.; himself was the second; the third was Anna, who died when about two years old; the fourth was Bartholomew J., who is living a single life in New York, and the last was James B., who came here a young man in 1864, married Miss Anna Haas, of Newtown, and now resides in Warren county opposite Attica. Mr. and Mrs. Schermerhorn have had four children: Alice Catherine, born March 16, 1857, died January 13, 1872; Martha Luella, July 20, 1860; died March 20, 1872; Charles Ellis, March 6, 1862, and William Bradt, August 21, 1865. Mrs. Schermerhorn has been a member of the Methodist church since she was fourteen, and Mr. Schermerhorn since 1856. The latter has been class-leader most of the time subsequently; also held the offices of steward, Sabbath-school superintendent, trustee, and local preacher since 1859. He has been a Royal Arch Mason since 1851. His fine farm of 317 acres is situated in a beautiful section of country three miles north of Newtown. Mr. Schermerhorn is a republican. Additional Comments: Richland Township Extracted from: HISTORY OF FOUNTAIN COUNTY, TOGETHER WITH HISTORIC NOTES ON THE WABASH VALLEY, GLEANED FROM EARLY AUTHORS, OLD MAPS AND MANUSCRIPTS PRIVATE AND OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE, AND OTHER AUTHENTIC, THOUGH, FOR THE MOST PART, OUT-OF-THE-WAY SOURCES. BY H. W. BECKWITH, OF THE DANVILLE BAR; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF WISCONSIN AND CHICAGO. WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS. CHICAGO: H. H. HILL AND N. IDDINGS, PUBLISHERS. 1881. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/fountain/bios/schermer826nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/infiles/ File size: 5.1 Kb