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Below is a family biography included in The History of Brown County, Ohio published by W. H. Beers & Co. in 1883.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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SAMUEL MERANDA, retired farmer, P. O. Higginsport. Samuel Meranda, Sr., the paternal grandfather of our subject is supposed to have been a native of Pennsylvania, where he resided at time of his marriage. He had several children prior to 1795, at which date they emigrated to Bracken County, Ky., where he buried his wife. He afterward married Elizabeth Salt. His death occurred in 1832. Of Samuel, Sr.’s, children, James the father of Samuel, Jr., was a native of Pennsylvania, and from early life, lived in Kentucky, where he remained until early in the present century, when he, with two sisters came to Ohio, and settled on the farm now owned by Abraham Meranda. He became the owner of the land shortly before the war of 1812. About this time, he married Christena, daughter of Christian Shinkle, who occupies a space in this volume. James was drafted in the war of 1812, but furnished a substitute. He and wife began housekeeping on the new farm, and in a few years had transformed the primeval forest into productive fields. He devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits. His frame was small, but he possessed a robust constitution. He and his wife were both members of the church on Shinkle’s Ridge. He died at the age of sixty-three years, and she about 1853. Of their ten children, Samuel, whose name heads this sketch is the third, and one of four now living; he was born on his father’s farm in Lewis Township, in December, 1818. Here he was raised in the pioneer days of the county, and acquired his education in the common schools of that day. His time was spent at home until maturity, when in 1841 he married Martha J. Mohn, a niece of Lewis Mohn, whose history appears in this volume; she was born in Lewis Township in 1825. Of their ten children, eight are now living — Elizabeth J., Francis M, William T., John A., George G., James, Lewis L. and Joseph R. Soon after their marriage, they settled on the old farm near the river, a part of which Samuel became the owner of, and in 1855 traded for his present farm, which consists of 171 acres. This is under good cultivation and fair improvement. The place is farmed by two of his sons, and he (Samuel) lives retired. He and wife are members of the Christian Church on the Ridge, in which he is one of the Trustees.

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This family biography is one of 992 biographies included in The History of Brown County, Ohio published in 1883 by W. H. Beers & Co.  For the complete description, click here: Brown County, Ohio History and Genealogy

View additional Brown County, Ohio family biographies here: Brown County, Ohio Biographies

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