My Genealogy Hound

JOHN ROSS, farmer; P. O. West Charleston. He was born in Bethel Township July 22, 1814, and is a son of John and Sarah Ross; they were natives of Pennsylvania, but removed to Kentucky, and from there came to Ohio and settled in Warren Co., where the town of Franklin now stands; his father, Robert Ross, laid out the town; in 1811, John Ross came to Bethel Township, Miami Co., and purchased 320 acres in two separate tracts, and located on the one where his son now resides; although they were not the earliest settlers, they were the first to make any improvements worthy of mention; he was one of the parties called out to pursue the Indians, at the time of the Dilbone and Gerard massacre; their cabin served as a retreat for the women and children of the neighborhood, while the men were gone; this farm continued to be their home to the end of their lives; he died in 1849, at the age of 72, and she in 1872, at the age of 90; it is also the birth place of our subject; this was one of the most heavily timbered countries to be found anywhere, and also thickly set with underbrush, which made it all the more difficult to clear; however, by the hard knocks and unceasing energy of the pioneers, it has been stripped of its forests and made a desirable locality; of this work, Mr. Ross has done a good share; he owns 140 acres of the quarter-section inhabited by his father, which he has under good cultivation, and also well improved; besides this, he has 160 acres in another section of this township, and is doing a thriving business as a farmer; he has a harvest of about 100 acres of wheat, also some rye and barley, besides the spring crop. In the early part of March, 1845, he married Eliza DeLong, also a native of this township, and. the daughter of George and Elizabeth DeLong, who came here in an early day from Virginia; the fruits of this marriage are twelve children, viz., Ann M., Harrison C., Robert, John L., Benjamin Franklin, Sarah E., Mary Alethia, George W., Eliza, Thomas Jefferson, Fannie and Charles; Harrison C. entered the service of his country Aug. 10, 1863, and died in July, 1864; he was a member of Co. K, 1st O. V. H. A.