DARKE COUNTY OHIO - BIOS: GROFF, CHRISTIAN (published 1900) ******************************************************** OHGENWEB NOTICE: All distribution rights to this elec- tronic data are reserved by the submitter. Reproduction or re-presentation of copyrighted material will require the permission of the copyright owner. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ******************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Jane Torres Jetorres@indiana.edu June 6, 1999 ******************************************************** A Biographical History of Darke County Ohio, published in Chicago by the Lewis Publishing Company, 1900. p. 592-594 CHRISTIAN D. GROFF This worthy citizen of Painter Creek, Franklin township, is of German descent, his great-grandfather having come to this country from Germany in company with two brothers and settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where he spent the remainder of his life. Our subject's father, Abraham Groff, was born in that county in 1801 and in early life learned the trade of a fuller with his father. He married Nancy Dunkle and in 1849, with his wife and family, come to Ohio in wagons, landing near Covington, Newberry township, Miami county, after twenty-eight days spent upon the orad. Soon afterward he purchased eighty acres of land in New ton township, the same county, for which he paid six hundred and fifty dollars. At that time it was mostly wild land and the few buildings standing thereon were of logs. To the further improvement and cultivation of that place he devoted his energies throughout the remainder of his life, dying there about 1870. He took no active part in public affairs, was a God-fearing man, a devout Christian and a faithful member of the German Baptist church. His wife died some years later at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Mary Dunkle, of North Star, Darke county. To this worthy couple were born sixteen children, as follows: Daniel, born in 1826, came to Ohio prior to 1849 and died of typhoid fever a short time after his arrival; Abraham, born in 1828, died in 1833; Annie, born in 1830, died in 1833; Elisabeth, born in 1831, married David Murray and died in Mongtomery county, Ohio, in 1850; Martha, born in 1833, married Daniel Groff and died in Newton township, Miami county, in 1853; Christian D., our subject, is the next in order of birth; Joseph, born in 1836, is a farmer of Newberry township, Miami county; Nancy, born in 1838, is the wife of Emory Jenkins, of North Star, Darke county; Samuel, born in 1839, married Sarah Smith and moved to Ionia county, Michigan, where he was accidentally killed; John, born in 1841, died in 1859; Jacob, born in 1842, died in 1843; Mary, born in 1844, is now the wife of John Dunkle, of Piqua, Ohio; Nathaniel, born in 1846, married Emma Patterson and lives in North Star; George, born in 1848, is a quartz-mill builder in the state of Colorado; Henry, born in 1851, died in 1856; and Susanah, born in 1853, died in 1855. Christian D. Groff was born January 20, 1835, near Lisbon, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in which state he was reared as a farmer boy and attended school until his fifteenth year, when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio. He was an industrious lad, willing to work and was of great assistance to his father in clearing the land and tilling the soil. When the farm work was done he attended school during the winter months and partly learned the carpenter's trade. On the 5th of December, 1858, Mr. Groff was united in marriage with Miss Hannah Smith, who died July 25, 1868. By that union he had four children, namely: Sarah, now the wife of William Sellers, of Paulding county, Ohio; Ellen, wife of Moses Fry, of Perry county, Michigan; Henry, who married Eva Fox; and Abner, who died in infancy. In 1869 Mr. Groff married Miss Margaret, daughter of John Spade, of Franklin township, Darke county. She died in October, 1894. The children born to them were: Amos, who married Mattie Rupert and lives in Missouri, near the Kansas line; Mary, wife of William Collins; Martha, Emma and Jesse, who all died in infancy; Clara, wife of Walter Pifer, of Gettysburg, Ohio; Nancy, who died in infancy; Cora and Dora, twins, the latter deceased; and Susie, at home. After his first marriage Mr. Groff located on a tract of twenty acres near his father's farm and continued to work at his trade until 1860. In 1863 he removed to the farm of his father-in-law, Henry Smith, south of Bradford, in Newberry township, Miami county, which he rented for three years. He then sold his twenty-acre tract and purchased a farm of forty acres on Painter creek, Franklin township, and the following spring bought eighteen and a half acres adjoining, with the buildings thereon, into which he moved. At the end of four years he sold that property and purchased his present farm of one hundred and thirty-eight acres of land, a part of which is now within the corporate limits of Painter Creek which has been divided into town lots. Mr. Groff has always been a hard working man, of known reliability, and is entirely self-made, his success in life being due to his industry, perseverance and good management. He cast his first presidential vote for Lincoln and has since been a stalwart supporter of the Republican party. Religiously he is a devout member of the old order of Dunkards, and commands the confidence and respect of all with whom he comes in contact, either in business or social life.