GERMAN SETTLERS FROM PENDLETON COUNTY
Early Historical Records Of Ritchie County
Article from RITCHIE GAZETTE 1993 HARRISVILLE WV
Transcribed by Peggy Wilson

Study of the early settlers of Ritchie County discloses certain patterns of settlement. Many
people, including the Lowther, Harris, Starr, Webb and Nutter families came from Harrison
County to make their homes in the wilderness which would become Ritchie County.

The Seventh Day Baptists who settled Berea were another early "colony" which drew its members
from the same New Jersey families which had earlier settled Salem, WV., and West Union, WV.

Among the early pioneers were several families who came from Pendleton County, most of whom
were of German descent. Patrick Sinnett through Irish, married a German lady named Katherine
Hefner. Sinnett moved to Ritchie County from Pendleton in 1815 and is counted as one of the
first settlers of the county.

Patrick and Katherine Sinnett had 11 children, all born in Pendleton County: John, William,
Seth, Abel, Henry, Jacob, George, Elizabeth, Sarah, Katherine and Phebe. William and Sethmoved
to Ohio. Henry Sinnett remained in Pendleton County, but the other eight children came to
Ritchie County with their parents in 1815.

George Sinnett married Mary Rexroad, daughter of Henry. John Sinnett married Elizabeth Propst.
Jacob Sinnett married Elizabeth Rexroad, daughter of Henry. Abel Sinnett married Elizabeth
Stuart. Elizabeth Sinnett married James Drake. Sarah Sinnett married Adam Cunningham Jr.
Katherine Sinnett and her sister Phebe both married Chancelors and moved west.

George Moats moved to Harrisville from Pendleton County with his wife Eve and 12 children about
1819. Christina Moats married John Shrader. Peter Moats married Rachel Grogg. Barbara Moats
married John Solomon Dick. Jacob Moats married Mary Elizabeth Starr. Elizabeth Moats married
John Layfield. Magdalene Moats married William Kibbey. Henry Moats married Effa Star. William
Moats married Phoebe Drake. Susan Moats married Solomon Mullenax. Frances Moats married Harmon
Sinnett. Catherine Moats married Absolem Harpold. Julia Ann Moats married Ephriam Culp.

Several members of the Rexroad family came to Ritchie County before the 1850 census. Henry
Rexroad settled near Harrisville in the 1830's. He and his wife Catherine had several children.
Elizabeth Rexroad married Jacob Sinnett. Mary Rexroad married George Sinnett. Sarah Rexroad
never married. Solomon Rexroad married Agnes Drake. Lucinda Rexroad married Henry Rexroad, a
cousin. Henry Rexroad, Jr., married Eliza Abbey in 1839, in  Whiteside, IL. Daniel Rexroad
married Elizabeth Wells. Ephriam Rexroad married Mary Hammond and moved west.

Johann Zachariah Rexroad (known as Zachariah) and his wife Sarah Hoffman came to Ritchie County
in 1845. Lowther's History of Ritchie County says he was a brother to Henry Rexroad, Sr. However,
a much more authoritative source says otherwise. A 1986 genealogy of the Rexroad family.
A History of the Descendants of Zachariah Rexrode Pendleton County, by Walter L. Eye, lists
Johann Zachariah Rexrode/Rexroad (1791-1877) as a son of Johnann George Rexrode and Margaret
Elizabeth Hevener. Mr. Eye's book indicates that information for this particular branch of the
family is based on records at St. Michael's Lutheran Church, Sugar Grove, WV.

Henry Rexroad/Rexrode (1778-1860) is shown by Mr. Eye's book to be an uncle of Zachariah Rexroad.
Henry Rexroad and Zachariah's father, Johnann George Rexroad, were the sons of Johannes Zacharias
Rexroade (1725-1799).

Zachariah and Sarah (Hoffman) Rexroad had 11 children. Jeremiah died young. Noah Rexroad married
Matilda Mullenax. Mary Rexroad married a cousin, Harmon Rexroad. Addison Rexroad married Catherine
Sinnett. Henry Rexroad married Lucinda Rexroad a cousin. Lewis Rexroad married Mary Mullenax.
Zebulon Rexroad, married Phebe Sinnett. Abigail Rexroad married James Moyers. Jehu Rexroad married
a woman named Jane. Morgan Rexroad married a woman named Mary. Sarah Margaret Rexroad married
John Osborne.

Henry S. Rexroad (1806-1894) was a nephew of Henry Rexroad (1778-1860) and a first cousin of
Johnann Zachariah Rexroad (1791-1877). He married a woman named Elizabeth and they settled in
Ritchie County. The couple had one child, a daughter named Phebe.

Another family closely related to the Rexroads was the Moyers family, whose settlement here began
about 1849. Mary Rexroad (whose father's name is unknown) married Lewis Moyers in Pendleton County
about 1807. Five of their nine children settled in Ritchie County.

James Moyers married Abigail Rexroad and settled on Den Run. Their children were:
Charles, Edmond, James, and Sarah Catherine (Mrs. Phineas Randolph Tharp).

Sarah Moyers married Peter Simmons. Their children were Phebe (Mrs. Amos Jones), Mahala
(Mrs. Jacob Crummett, Jr.), Aaron Simmons, Abigail, Mary (Mrs. A. W. Zickafoose), and Sarah
(who married A. W. Zickafoose, probably after her sister's death)

Note: Peter Simmons (4/12/1801-4/6/1884) married April 11,1829 Sarah Moyers (4/4/1810-12/28/1897).

Phebe Simmons(2/12/1833-3/30/1897) married August 27, 1854 Amos Jones. Their children were:
Peter M., Sarah C., Mary A., Samuel Jones.

Mahala Simmons (4/15/1835-4/26/1924) married May 19, 1853 Jacob Crummett. Their children were:
George Franklin, Simon Peter, Martin Jacob, Margaret E. Crummett.

Aaron Simmons (1838-10/19/1924) married August 11, 1859 Phebe Rexroad. Their children:
John Edward, Andrew Lincoln, Peter M., Charley, James, Mary, Sophia Simmons.

Aaron Simmons (1838-1924) married October 25, 1882 Sarah Webb Hammer. Their children were:
Jettie Matilda, William A. Simmons. Abigail died in youth.

Mary M. Simmons (1843-1899) married July 27, 1865 Asbury W. Zickafoose. Their children were:
Edward S., William P., Elva S., Emma, Ida J., Sarah P., Frank, Nettie, Della Zickafoose.

Sidney Simmons (1843- ) married December 13, 1866 William Jordan: Their children were:
Ida, Noah, Calvin, Andrew, Peter Jordan.

Sarah Susan Simmons

Phebe Moyers married Jacob Hammer. Their children were Leonard, Lewis, George, Sarah,
(Mrs. T. Benton Rexroad), Phebe (Mrs. M. I. Hill), Samuel, Jacob, Mary (Mrs. Peter Zickafoose),
and Louisa (Mrs. Laird Friedley).

Sidney Moyers married Adam Dale Hammer, and according to Mr. Eye's book, they lived in Ritchie
County in 1880. Their children were: Lucy, Mary, Balser, Sarah, Adam, Jacob, and Peter.

Peter Moyers married Sarah Louisa Rexroad. Their children were: Lewis, Frank, Elllsworth, Grant,
Charles, and Mary (Mrs. Samuel Moats).

Lowther's History says that Frances Rexroad who married Thomas Hoover was a sister of Zachariah
Rexroad. However Walter Eye's book shows her among the ‘unplaced" Rexroads. At any rate, Frances
and her husband Thomas Hoover (1808-1888) were Ritchie County pioneers who settled on Indian Creek
about 1844. Their children were: William, Michael, Daniel, Washington, Charles, Henry, Jacob,
Jane, Noah, and Mary.

Uriah Shrader (1836-1904) came from Pendleton County in the 1850's. In 1858 he married Mary
Elizabeth Layfield. Their children were: Phebe (1859-1885), and Jacob Uriah Shrader (1865- 1929).

David Shrader (1843-1932) was a brother of Uriah Shrader. David married Hannah Moats in 1867.
Their children were: Samuel, Elizabeth, Henry, Jane (Mrs. Hubbard), Anna (Mrs. Ross),James
Edward, Lucretia (Mrs. Bert Boston), Eliza, Alcinda Grace (Mrs. B. M. Cowell), and Lydia.

Several members of the Simmons family came from Pendleton County. John W. Simmons married
Elizabeth Hourhood and settled Devil Hole. Abraham Simmons married Mary Mullenax and settled on
Indian Creek in 1849. His brother Peter Simmons married Sarah Moyers and settled on Dog Run in
1855.

Another early settler was Sampson Zickafoose who married Sarah Wade.
Also from Pendleton County were Amos Jones and his wife Phebe Simmons (daughter of Peter Simmons)
who settled on Indian Creek. Their children were: Peter, Samuel, Katherine (Mrs. Lee Parker),
and Delia.
The histories of these families may be read in the writings of Minnie Kendall Lowther, History
of Ritchie County and Ritchie County in History and Romance.

A brief survey of the 1850 census of Ritchie County discloses that names of other early settlers
who appear to be of German descent, while two heads of households were actually born in Germany.

Jacob Ehret, a shoemaker, was 45 years old. While Ehret and his 45-year-old wife Hannah were
born in Germany, their children, ages eighteen to one, were American by birth.

William Ehret, a 19-year-old farmer, was an adult son of Jacob and Hannah. He was living in
his own household with a wife and child. Like his parents, William was born in Germany.

The following names were listed as heads of households in the 1850 census. They were probably all
of German descent: John Coonrod, Henry Copenhaver, John Copenhaver, Reuben Eye, Alex Goff,
Alex Goff, Jr., Benjamin Goff, Stauther Goff, Thomas Goff, Andrew Hostetter, David Hostetter,
John Hostetter, John Hostetter, Jr., Isaac Lambert, Joseph Lambert, Jacob Lantz, Simon Lantz,
Frederick Lemon, George Lemon, James Lemon, Thomas Reitz, Eleven Riddle, Eli Riddle, Jefferson
Sigler, Hiram Sharpnack, John Sharpnack, William Sharpnack, Joseph Varner, Catherine Weimer,
Jacob Westfall, Joel Westfall, John Westfall, Elijah Wigner, Henry Wigner, Jacob Wigner, Jacob
Wigner, Jr., John Wigner, William Wigner, George Zinn, Granville Zinn, John Zinn, Otho Zinn,
and Quilla Zinn.