Tombstone Tuesday: John Needham (1799-1893)

John Needham

Born: July 31, 1799, Fort Ann, Washington County, New York

Died: August 24, 1893, Brecksville, Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Buried: Brecksville Cemetery, Brecksville, Cuyahoga County, Ohio

John Needham was my 2xg-grandfather on my father's maternal side.

Copyright © 2021 by Kevin W. Walker

Amanuensis Monday: Newspaper Announces John Needham's 90th Birthday

I don't know which Cuyahoga County, Ohio newspaper this is originally from.  It was reprinted without citation in The Ancestors and Descendants of Horatio Edmund Needham and Lucina Bagley, who Married 25 November 1852 in Royalton, Cuyahoga County, Ohio by Melva Kinch Breffeilh and Shirley Kinch Morrison (self-published:1995) --

A CUYAHOGA PIONEER.

Mr. John Needham, Who Has Lived in the County Since 1834, Celebrates His Ninetieth Birthday.
     Mr. John Needham celebrated his ninetieth birthday on Wednesday at the residence of his youngest son, Mr. Z. Taylor Needham, in Brooklyn Village.  Four of his children and four of his grandchildren were present, and the day passed most pleasantly for the venerable and honored pioneer and those of the family in attendance.  Mr, Needham was born July 31, 1799, in the town of Fort Ann, N.Y.  At the age of fourteen years he went to Vermont and was then married when twenty-seven years old.  He then moved to St. Lawrence, N.Y., and came to Ohio in the year of 1834.  Since that time he has lived in Cuyahoga county, mostly in Brecksville.  Mrs. Needham died in March, 1876.  The couple had nine children, seven boys and two girls.  Two of them are living in Cleveland, one at Medina, one in Paulding county, one in Nebraska, one in Missouri, and one in New York.  The other two died a few years ago.  Mr. Needham has always had good health and he bids fair to remain at the head of his thriving family for some time to come.  His mother lived to be ninety-seven years old.  Mr. Needham was a staunch Whig in the olden days and is now a thorough Republican.  He enjoys the distinction of having voted for Henry Clay.  His many friends wish him continued return of Wednesday's happy celebration.

Articles like these are a treasure to the family historian and genealogist.  We can easily date the article as being published in 1889.  But we also know that since the subject was born on the last day in July, the issue was published in August. The son spoken of "in Nebraska" is my great-grandfather Arthur Herrick Needham.

John Needham, was my 2xg-grandfather.  He lived four more years, dying August 24, 1893 at the age of 94.

Copyright © 2014 by Kevin W. Walker

Obituary Sunday: Thomas Nelson Barkdull

From "RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE FORTY-FIFTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE FIRELANDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY HELD IN THE FIRST METHODIST CHURCH AT NORWALK, OHIO. OCTOBER 23. 1901. 10 A. M." as published in The Firelands Pioneer (Norwalk, Ohio: The Laning Company, 1902).  Chapter entitled "Obituaries" --

Barkdull, Rev. Thomas, was the youngest son of Joseph and Mary Barkdull and was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, June 24, 1813.  In 1834 he attended school in the Norwalk Seminary, and in the same year was licensed to exhort, and was admitted to the Ohio Conference (Methodist) the next year and began preaching at Elyria, Ohio. In 1836 he was married to Miss Caroline Hendry, of Elyria. In 1837 he moved to Clarksfield and lived a year or so, then had the following appointments : Sandusky, Mt. Vernon, Ashland, Wooster, Canal Dover, Norwalk and Milan (1845), Maumee, Tiffin, Wooster, Plymouth, Shelby, Elyria, Cleveland. He died in Mt. Vernon in 1869.

Copyright © 2014 by Kevin W. Walker

Surname Saturday: Barkdull

I was seriously shocked to look at my blog and see that I have posted nothing on my Barkdull ancestors.

Ohio The Crossroad of Our Nation: Records & Pioneer Families
(Volume IV No. III: July-September 1963) Published by Esther Weygandt Powell 

JOSEPH BARKDULL (BERGDOLL) OF COLUMBIANA COUNTY, OHIO
Contributed by Mrs. Jack Hyman, Stockton, CA 

Joseph Barkdull Born: 1764 (?) Md. probably Hagerstown; lived Somerset Co., Pa. c. 1784; deeds recorded in Columbiana Co., Ohio 1809-1824; Williams Co., Ohio 1824. Died: 27 Sept. 1828 (?) New Lisbon, Columbiana County, Ohio.
Mary M. (Freeman?) Died: 1836 Columbiana Co., Ohio 

Children of Joseph and Mary M. Barkdull

• 1. John Freeman b. 1784 Somerset Co., Pa.; d. 1 Oct. 1865 Henry Co., Ill.; Married 1st. Nancy Slater 12 Oct. 1810,  Columbiana Co., Ohio. Married 2nd Sarah Dicks 12 Nov. 1816, Columbiana Co., Ohio.
• 2. Joseph b. 13 Dec. 1787; d. 31 July 1859; married Anna Douglas 25 Jan. 1814, Wayne Co., Ohio.
• 3. Elizabeth married S.S. Crawford
• 4. Peter d. 6 May 1834; married Sarah Lasure 12 Feb. 1818, Wayne Co., Ohio.
• 5. Michael b. 3 Sept. 1798, Somerset Co., Pa.; d. 25 July 1839 Quincy, Ill.; married Prudence Tremayne 6 May 1824.
• 6. Samuel d. 27 Sept. 1828; married Mary Sharp 14 Mar. 1820, Columbiana Co., Ohio.
• 7. David d. 11 Jan. 1861; married Permina Ingledine 20 July 1826.
• 8. Phillip married 7 May 1826 Rachel Mitchell, Columbiana Co., Ohio.
• 9. Jacob died 6 Nov. 1828.
• 10. Thomas b. 24 June 1813; d. 4 Jan. 1869 Shelby, Ohio; married Caroline Hendry.

1. John Freeman Barkdull and Nancy Slater had: 

• a. William b. c 1814, Columbiana Co.; d. April 1840, Knox Co., Ohio.
• b. Diana Mary married Robert Surpluss.

    John Freeman Barkdull and Sarah Dicks had: 

• a. Robert K. b. 18 June 1817 Columbiana Co., Ohio; d. 1 Dec.1870 Delaware, Ohio; married 7 Oct. 1830 Prudence Beal, Union Co., Ohio.
• b. Jane married Josiah Elliott, 2 July 1846, Union Co., Ohio.
• c. Silas Freeman b. 12 Feb. 1827, Richland Co., Ohio; d. 3 Feb. 1898, Crawford Co., Pa.; married Anna Pool, 18 July 1847, Union Co., Ohio.
• d. Sarah Mahal b. 26 Dec. 1830, Union Co., Ohio; d. 1 June 1911, Kidder Co., N.D.; married Andrew Jackson Ennis, 31 Aug. 1856, Marshall Co., Iowa.

Joseph Bardull's children were an interesting lot --John was a Lt. in War of 1812; Joseph an early sheriff of Wayne Co., Ohio; Michael converted by Joseph Smith personally and this line thick in Salt Lake City area; Phillip was a converted Quaker and an early settler in Howard County, Indiana; Thomas was a presiding elder in the Methodist Episcopal Church in Ohio; even daughter Elizabeth distinguished herself somewhat by having 13 children. 

Howard Barkdull of Cleveland, past president of American Bar Association, was of John's line.

Joseph Barkdull was my 5xg-grandfather.  The lineage: Joseph -> Lt. John Freeman Barkdull -> Diana Mary (Barkdull) Surpluss (1811-1869) -> John Nelson Surpluss (1839-1901) -> James Alexander Surpluss (1867-1948) -> Thelma (Surpluss) Gibson (1903-1991) -> Brenda (Gibson) Walker Cline Cox (1938-1989) -> me.

Copyright © 2014 by Kevin W. Walker

Jacob L. Gurwell (1786 - abt. 1860)

The following is reproduced with permission from the "Gurwell Group" newsletter, Vol. 1, No. 4, (December, 1996) writer and editor Shirley Boyd --

Of the three young Gurwells, William, James and Jacob L., the least is known about Jacob L.  

Jacob L. Gurwell did not remain long in one spot.  First mention is in Mercer County, PA from where he served in the War of 1812. 

Jacob L. enlisted for the period of October 1, 1812 to April 2, 1813  in the Pennsylvania Militia and served as a private in Captain Matthew Dawson's Company of (PA) Militia, 5th Battalion (Nelson's) Infantry.¹  They joined General Crook's brigade and marched through Ohio to operate with General William Henry Harrison against the British at Ft. Meigs.  He served two months and receive $13.32 for his service.  Jacob L. was discharged December 10, at Mansfield, Ohio (Richland County) which was "210 miles from home."  One Company Muster Roll shows 285 miles from home (19 days).  His allowance for clothing was $3.98.² 

In October 1817, he married Mrs. Elenor Da(o)rland in Perry Township, Wayne County, Ohio, by Daniel Hutchison, J.P.³   

The 1820 census of Berlin Township, Coshocton County, Ohio (became Holmes County in 1826) shows that there was one male 26-45, two females under 10 and one female 16-26 in Jacob's household. 

On May 1, 1821 he purchased "Lot No. five of the fourth quarter of the tenth Township & the Sixth range of the tract...lying in the State of Ohio."⁴ However, in November of the same year he sold the land to Jacob Frye.  Jacob L.'s wife was listed as Aley.⁵   

On April 25, 1822 he purchased land in Liberty Township, Crawford County, Ohio.  (Sale was the from Delaware County, Ohio land office.  The deed was signed by President James Monroe.)⁶ 

By 1823 he had moved to Crawford County, Ohio.  A history of Crawford County records that "in 1823 in Liberty Township, Crawford County, the Northwest corner of Jacob L. Gurwell's farm was the first burying ground in that area so it is believed that one of the first to die belonged to Jacob L.  The graveyard no longer exists."⁷  Jacob L. is on the 1826 personal property tax list in Liberty Township.  "Prior to 1830 Jacob L. and David Hawk started a tannery northeast of Annapolis in Liberty Township."⁸  In 1832 and '33 Jacob L. was on the tax list in Liberty Township for lands and house.  In 1834 he bought land in Chatfield Township, Crawford County. 

The 1830 census of Crawford County, Liberty Township lists the following in Jacob L.'s household:  one male under 5, one male 40-50 (Jacob), one female under 5, one female 5-10, two females 10-15 and one female (20-30) (Aley).

While living in Crawford County, Jacob bought and sold many tracts of land. The last land transaction in Crawford County was in 1836 when he sold land to Isaac Starns.  He signed the land record and Aley made her mark. 

Jacob L. next appears in the 1850 Holt County, Missouri census.  He is 64 and lists his birthplace as Pennsylvania.  In his household are Emma, 26, born in Ohio, James, 16, born in Ohio, Amanda, 11, born in Illinois and William, 3, born in Missouri.  From this we can infer that he lived in Illinois after he left Ohio, that Aley died sometime after the birth of William (assuming that she was William's mother). 

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_FOOTNOTES: 1-Military Records from the National Archives; 2-Ibid.; 3-Wayne County, Ohio Marriage Records. 1812-1829.; 4-Holmes County, Ohio Deed Book Vol. 15, p. 19, Holmes County Court House, Millersburg, Ohio. (Poor copy.); 5-Holmes County, Ohio Transcript Deed Record 11,  p. 173, Court House,  Millersburg, Ohio.; 6-Crawford County, Ohio, Recorder's Office, Bucyrus, Ohio Deed Book 4,  p. 108-109.; 7-1881 History of Crawford County, Ohio; 8-Ibid. p. 576 

Jacob Laban Gurwell is my 3x-great-grandfather on my mother's paternal (Gibson) side.

If you have anything to add on the Gurwell family history both Shirley and I would like to hear from you.  She can be emailed at shirboy[at]aol.com.

Copyright © 2014 by Kevin W. Walker