MONTGOMERY COUNTY OHIO - BIO: REEDER Family (published 1917) *********************************************************************** OHGENWEB NOTICE: All distribution rights to this electronic 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 Submitter: MRS GINA M REASONER Submitter: AUPQ38A@prodigy.com Date: August 1, 1999 *********************************************************************** THE MAKING OF A TOWNSHIP Being an Account of the Early Settlement and Subsequent Development of FAIRMOUNT TOWNSHIP GRANT COUNTY, INDIANA 1829-1917 Edgar Baldwin Printing Company, 1917 Page 223, 224, 225, 226, 227 with photo of old homestead REEDER FAMILY (By Bishop Milton Wright) JONATHAN FRANKLIN REEDER and WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON REEDER were among the pioneers of Grant County. They entered the land of which they afterward made homes for life in the year 1837. They settled in the southeastern part of Fairmount Township, and did their part in clearing up the forests. Both of them were of Rush County, Indiana, to which their parents had removed when they were young from Montgomery County, Ohio, where William was born, November 15, 1813, Franklin having been born in Hamilton County, Ohio, June 18, 1806. The removal of their parents to Rush County was in the fall of 1822, where the father, George Reeder, died May 13, 1845, and the mother, September 12, 1858, both quite aged. This George Reeder's ancestors, for the four generations preceding him, had the name of Joseph. The first Joseph Reeder was the grandson of William Reader (Wilhelm Leser), of the Kingdom of Hanover, in Germany, who removed to England, probably before the year 1600, and his grandson Joseph came to Newton (Township), Long Island, New York, about 1650. He had with him John Reeder and perhaps other brothers. From this John is descended, in the sixth generation, Governor Andrew H. Reeder (1854), of Kansas, the true Free State man. The descent was thus: 1. John; 2. John; 3. Isaac; 4. John; 5. Absalom; 6. Andrew H. The four successive ancestors by the name of Joseph followed agricultural pursuits on farms of their own, and all of them, except the first Joseph, were members of the Presbyterian Church, and citizens of industry and much respectability. The last two were deacons in the church and noted for good sense, honesty and piety, as was George, who was an elder in the church nearly all his life. All the Joseph ancestors had each two or more sons, who married, and from them are descended many of the Reeders of the different states. The second Joseph ancestor, probably late in life, removed to Morris County, New Jersey. His son, Jacob, is celebrated in the early history of Newton for his education, fine character and usefulness. (Reeder was formerly spelled Reader). Joseph Reeder the third married in Hopewell, New Jersey, about 1740, as his second wife, Susana Gano, daughter of Daniel Gano, and great-granddaughter of Francis Gano, a wealthy Huguenot, of Rochelle, France, who, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, barely escaped martyrdom by fleeing with his children and their families, about 1686, first to Guernsey Island, and thence to America, and he died at New Rochelle, New York, aged one hundred and three years. Joseph and Susana had a large family, of whom six sons lived to have large families, and all of them settled in the Miami Valley, Ohio. In 1763 he had settled in Loudoun County, Virginia, and his son, Joseph, the fourth, having married Anna Huff, in New Jersey, removed to the same county in 1766, and a number of years later removed to Hampshire County, now in West Virginia, and lived on the Great Cacapon River, whence with all his family he removed to Hamilton County, Ohio in 1789. His son, George, married in Cincinnati, June 2, 1796, Margaret Van Cleve, daughter of John Van Cleve, who was killed by Indians there June 1, 1791. John was descended, in the fourth generation, from John Van Cleve, a Hollander, who came to Long Island, New York, in 1650; and, in the fifth generation, from John Vanderbilt, also a Hollander, who settled at Gravesend the same year, and New Utrecht, Long Island, in 1659. This John Vanderbilt was the father of Aris Vanderbilt and grandfather of Jacob Vanderbilt, the ancestor of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. The foregoing is an abridged sketch of the ancestral history of Franklin and William Reeder, pioneers in Fairmount Township. The Reeders had one brother and four sisters who lived to have families, the brother, George, the last surviving of his father's family, dying in Hutchinson, Kansas, August, 1900. One of the sister's husbands was Dan Wright, father of Rev. Harvey Wright, Bishop Milton Wright and Rev. William Wright, whose son, Ellis, resides on a farm owned by him east of Fairmount. Another was prof. Ryland T. Brown, of Northwestern Christian University, now Butler University, father of Capt. George Reeder Brown, who commanded the Ninth Indiana Battery through the Civil War. Another is John Braden, a retired merchant, of Greensburg, whose sons are merchants of Watseka, Illinois. J. Franklin Reeder married in Rush County, Indiana, July 19, 1827, Nancy Furnish and they had Mary Jane, Margaret, Phebe Catharine, Eliza and Asenath, all of whom married and have since died, except Eliza and all had children. His wife, having died some years previously, Mr. Reeder, about 1853, married Fanny Broyles, by whom he had one son, George, and a daughter, the latter dying within a few years. The son married, removed to Michigan, and died some years afterward, leaving a widow and several children. Mr. Reeder's descendants are scattered, but those living in Fairmount Township are the children of Asenath, William Millspaugh, a former merchant at Fowlerton and Mrs. Horace Reeve. William H.H. Reeder, the pioneer, was of a fine mould mentally, morally and physically. Physically, of fine symmetry, handsome features, and of a magnetic temperament; mentally, of an active, acute and strong cast; morally, having a deep sense of the right and an abhorrence of anything unjust or wrong; with a ready tongue, accurate utterance and good voice, his conversational powers were fine; and if they had been so used he would have made an able and eloquent public speaker. But his ideas of the necessities of education forbade his entering public life, and probably his taste did not incline him to it. He was, however, a successful school teacher a small part of his long life. He died in honor among the best people, and having a very humble opinion of his own worthiness of everlasting life. William H.H. Reeder married, in Decatur County, Indiana, August 18, 1847, Miss Elizabeth Dealy, and they were the parents of the following children, all born in Fairmount Township: Margaret Elizabeth, who married John W. Broyles, of Delaware County; Eliza Catharine, who married Joseph A. Broyles, of Delaware County; George, who died at thirteen years of age; Madora, who died at four; William Henry Harrison, who married Mattie Parks, of Jefferson Township, and who has served as Justice of the Peace; Flora M., who married Oliver A. glass; Robert B., who married Hattie Glass. The older daughters have children and grandchildren. The two youngest children have each several children. William, who has no heirs, Flora, who resides on a farm of their own near Lincolnville, Wabash County, Indiana, and Robert all live on parts of the old homestead in Fairmount Township. THE OLD W.H.H. REEDER HOMESTEAD Located about one mile and a half southwest of Fowlerton. This hewn-log cabin was built by William Henry Harrison Reeder out of native timber in 1844, three years before his marriage. In the early day it was pointed out as the finest home in that part of the Township. Up to the time of its construction there were but very few two-story cabins in the new country of like dimensions and elegance. This cabin is still standing on the farm, which is yet in the hands of members of the original family, being now owned by a son, William H. H. Reeder. For many years the son occupied this comfortable cabin, until it was recently replaced by his present modern residence. The elder Reeder served in the Indian State Militia before coming to Fairmount Township. It was in this cabin that the well known pioneer frequently presided as the arbiter in matters which came before him while serving as Justice of the Peace. In the early day William Henry Harrison Reeder was known far and near as a peacemaker. Upon many occasions he adjusted differences between neighbors which promised endless litigation and bitter enmities if carried into the courts. Well poised, with a mind keenly analytical, of discriminating judgment, and possessing a broad view of justice and equity, his upright character and profound knowledge of men and affairs enabled him to command the respect and confidence of all who knew him. In several disputes where there were prospects of contention and strife he proved to be the man of the hour. His tact and resourcefulness served him in good stead in rendering quietly and unobtrusively a good deal of important service to his pioneer friends. It was at this cabin home that many contentions were satisfactorily settled and friendships which might have been abruptly ended were made permanent and beneficial. ==== OH-FOOTSTEPS Mailing List ====