My Genealogy Hound

NATHAN SAEGER for many years was a successful and prominent tiller of the soil, but is now retired from the active duties of life, and is in the enjoyment of a competency which his excellent business qualities and good judgment have won him. He was born in the town of Fayette, Seneca County, January 23, 1817, on a place within three miles of his present residence.

Our subject was the son of Daniel and Barbara (Miller) Saeger, both natives of Lehigh County, Pa., where they were reared and married, and where their eldest son, Reuben, was born. In 1815, when he was an infant of six months, they came to this county with a team, and immediately decided on the location where Nathan was born. The journey hither consumed fourteen days, the party camping at night by the wayside. It was a very tedious trip, and when any member got tired riding he would dismount and walk a part of the way.

Prior to coming to this county Daniel Saeger had been a distiller, and had also worked for some time at the tanner’s trade. When taking up his abode in this section he possessed sufficient means to purchase fifty acres of fine land, for which he paid the sum of $1,100. In the years which followed this particular piece of property deteriorated in value, so that he could hardly have given it away had he been disposed to do so. Mr. Saeger prospered in his undertakings, however, and at the time of his decease was the owner of a valuable estate, comprising ninety acres of excellently tilled land.

The parental household numbered seven children, all of whom grew to mature years, with one exception, and five became the heads of families. Reuben died about 1887. In politics the father of our subject was a Whig, and in religious matters was a consistent member of the German Reformed Church.

The subject of this sketch grew to manhood on the old home farm, and acquired a good education in the schools conducted in the district. On attaining his nineteenth year he began to do for himself, working out on neighboring farms, and receiving as compensation for his labors $12.50 per month during the busy season. In this way he saved $50, which, with a friend, he invested in a threshing-machine in 1837, giving his note for the balance. As his was about the only machine of the kind in the community, it was kept busy almost all winter, and in this manner he got a start in life. He was also very successful in working farms on shares, or in “cropping,” as it was then called, and by the time he was twenty-three or twenty-four years of age he possessed a snug little sum of money. About that time he entered into partnership with a brother, and together they purchased eighty-seven acres of farming land, located near where he now resides.

In 1841 Nathan Saeger and Miss Christiana Manger were united in marriage in Fayette, where Mrs. Saeger was born about 1820. By her union with our subject she became the mother of three children, two of whom lived to have families of their own. Henry D., at his decease, left three children, and Benjamin F. was the father of two children at the time of his death. The wife and mother departed this life in August, 1884, greatly mourned by a large circle of relatives and friends. Our subject has five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Mr. Saeger is one of the largest land-holders in the county, counting among his possessions two hundred and sixty acres of tillable land in a high state of cultivation. He is a man of decided views regarding most of the things of life, and in his political affiliations he is a Republican, and ready to do anything for the support of his party. His first ballot was cast for William Henry Harrison, and in 1856 he voted for John C. Fremont. He is very popular in his community, which fact the reader can appreciate when we state that he held the office of Assessor for three years, in a strong Democratic town. He is a regular attendant at the services of the First Presbyterian Church.