Preserve Brown, Sr.

Other Events:

• Religion: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; Address:
  Philadelphia Monthly Meeting

Notes:

...In the year 1710, Preserve Brown, Sr., removed from Chesterfield Monthly Meeting to Burlington monthly Meeting, residing at Mansfield, a few miles from Bordentown, N. J. About this time there lived in that vicinity four persons bearing the Quaint Names, Preserve Brown, Safety Borden, Safety Magee and Hananiah Gaunt. Preserve Brown and his wife were highly esteemed and regarded as "valuable Friends." At his death he was buried in Friends' Burying Ground, located on what is now Prince Street, near Church Street, Bordentown. As a mark of special honor and respect the Friends erected to his memory a tombstone bearing the inscription:

...When John Montgomerie was appointed Governor of New Jersey, 1728, the Grand Jury addressed the King a congratulatory message of a somewhat fervid character, rejoicing in the :daily accessions to Your Glory,: promising faithful adherence, etc. Preserve Brown was one of the signers, with a number of Quakers, who added a line, saying: "We agree to the matter and Substance of this Address but make some exceptions to the Stile." From this unique paper we quote:

"We cant without a rapture of thankfulness, recount our obligation to Your Majestie,
for Your Parental care of Your People in this Distant Collonie.
"...We Shall not Trepass farther upon Your Royal Patience, but shall offer up our fervent
prayers to the King of Kings, that he will please to direct Your Majesty by his unerring
wisdom, & always encline Your heart to his Glory & Encompass Your Sacred Person with his
Favour as with a Shield, & make your Goverment an universal blessing to all Your Dominions."

Religion:

Preserve Brown produced to this Meeting for himself wife & son Preserve from Chesterfield Montyly Meeting in New Jersey date the 5th June Last Which wwe read & well Recd. & sent up to the Women Friends.

Buried:

Burial- Grounds. For very many years the Friends for miles around buried at Crosswicks Meeting-house ground, but in 1740 Joseph Borden deeded to them the lot now known as the Quaker graveyard. As their meeting-house was built that year, it is probable the ground was soon used for the purpose designated, and that every portion of it has been occupied. Sometimes, but very rarely at an early date, tombstones erected to the memory of Friends are found in their graveyards. Preserve Brown seems to have been especially honored in this respect. He was buried in the northwest corner of the ground, and a solitary tombstone with this inscription marks the spot:
"In memory of Preserve Brown, who died the 26th day of the 4th month, 1744, aged 65 years."
This stone is of blue marble, about two feet high with the top scrolled in the usual style of the day, and is undoubtedly the first one put up in Bordentown, and probably the oldest to be found in any Friends' ground in the State. (p484, History of Burlington and Mercer Counties New Jersey)

Family/Spouse: Mary _____. Mary died after 1695. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Preserve married Mary French on 15 Oct 1724 in Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial America. Mary (daughter of Richard French and Mary King) was born on 3 Nov 1707; died on 18 Aug 1746. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Preserve married Mary Sykes on 21 Oct 1747 in Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial America. Mary was born in 1707; died on 8 Jan 1783. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Lydia married Isaac Ivins in 1730 in Mansfield, Burlington County, New Jersey, Brithsh Colonial America. Isaac (son of Daniel Ivins and _____ _____) was born in Nov 1680 in Salem Township, Salem County, New Jersey, British Colonia America; died before 11 Jul 1768 in Mansfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial America. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• History / Bio: 1894; Record of the Nutt Family (Joseph Nutt; Date: 1894), p1

Notes:

History / Bio:

Adam Nutt was a native of Wales, and must have come to America in the early part of the last century. the records show that he had a son, Levi, born January 1st, 1727, and that Levi was married to Ann Ivens Sept. 19th, 1748. She was the daughter of Isaac, or as some say Barzilla, and Lydia Ivens; her birth July 7th, 1732. To them were born the following children: Amy Nutt, July 23rd, 1749; Moses Nutt, August 28 1751; Abigail Nutt, March 29th, 1754; Aaron Nutt, July 17th, 1758; Bathesheba Nutt, Nov. 28th, 1760; Levi Nutt, Nov. 8th, 1763. Their father died May 22nd, 1763, and their mother married Hugh Hutchins January 26th, 1769.

Ann married Levi Nutt on 19 Sep 1748 in Burlington, New Jersey, British Colonial America. Levi was born on 1 Jan 1726/7 in Springfield, Union County, New Jersey, British Colonial America; died on 22 May 1763 in Springfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial Ameirca. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ann married Hugh Hutchins on 23 Jun 1769 in Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial America. Hugh was born about 1732 in Springfield, Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial America; died on 25 Mar 1784. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
12da 1mo 1734

Diademia married John Thorne, Jr. on 5 Apr 1753 in Chesterfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. John was born on 4 May 1730 in Crosswicks, Burlington, New Jersey, British Colonial America; died on 22 Aug 1807 in Chesterfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Lydia married John Follwell on 6 Mar 1755 in Chesterfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial America. John died in 1771. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The Ivins family were later settlers in Bucks county coming in through New Jersey, but we do not know at what time. Isaac Ivins, the immigrant, was married three times, his first wife being Sarah Johnson, their marriage certificate bearing date 4 mo., 26, 1711. The name of his second wife was Lydia, and the third, Ann. He died, 1768. He mentions all the wives in his will. He lived and died in Mansfield township, Burlington county, and was a storekeeper by occupation. His children were Ann, Diadema, Moses, Aaron, Born 8, 30, 1736, and died 6, 2, 1799. Isaac, Joseph and Levi. In 1792, Aaron Ivins, son of Isaac, Burlington county, but we are not informed whether the junior or senior, but as he married Ann Cheshire, 1764, he was probably son of Isaac the second, brought his wife, Ann, and children, Samuel, Ann, Mary and Barclay, and settled in Fall, to which meeting he brought a certificate. In 1796 he purchased 389 acres of Langhorne Biles on the Delaware for £5,835 or $155,560 equivalent to $40 per acre. The earlier descendants of Aaron Ivins intermarried with the families of Middleton, Cook, Comfort, Buckman, Smith, Taylor, Green and others well known in the lower end of the county. The late Dr. Horace Fremont Ivins, born in Penn's manor, October 30, 1856, and died at Easton, Pennsylvania, January 8, 1898, was a descendant. he was graduated from the Hahnemann Medical College, Philadelphia, 1879, then spent a year in Europe, the greater part of his time in the hospitals of London and Vienna. upon his return he settled down in practice and became prominent in special branches. William H. Ivins, Camden, N. J., is a descendant of the Burlington county's immigrant. (Source: William W. H. Davis, Warren S. Ely and John W. Jordan, LL.D., History of Bucks County Pennsylvania - From the Discovery of the Delaware to the Present Time: With a Genealogical and Personal History of Bucks County, Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged, Volume I - Illustrated (New York - Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1905).), pg. 79)

Aaron Ivins, wife Ann, with their minor children Samuel, Ann, Mary, and Barclay, were received by Falls Mo. Mtg. of 5-12mo-1792 on certificate from Upper Springfield, Burlington County, N. J., Mo. Mtg. -Hinshaw, American Quaker Genealogy, II, 1005. Their elder sons Aaron and Isaac Ivins also removed to within the verge of Falls Mo. Mtg. (Source: Lewis D. Cook, F.A.S.G., F.G.S.P., "Ivins of Burlington and Gloucester Counties New Jersey". The Vineland Historical Magazine, Vol XXXVi, 1962, pg. 152)

Birth:
20da 6mo 1736

Aaron married Ann Cheshire on 7 May 1764 in Crosswicks, Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial America. Ann was born on 10 Sep 1739 in Falls Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; died on 6 Jan 1826 in Falls Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Amy married Joshua Douglass Bunting on 23 Sep 1768 in Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial America. Joshua was born on 23 Jul 1738 in New Jersey, British Colonial America; died on 8 Oct 1808 in New Jersey, United States; was buried on 9 Oct 1808. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Living. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Moses married Anne Buffin on 3 Feb 1772 in Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial America. Anne was born about 1753 in Mansfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial America; died on 2 May 1782 in New Jersey, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Abigail married Aaron Taylor on 25 Jul 1768 in Monmouth County, New Jersey, British Colonial America. Aaron and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Military: was in the Revolutionary War - Soldier, teamster and scout under Captain Shreve
• Occupation: Auctioneer, tailor
• Occupation: Tavernkeeper in Kentucky and Centerville, Ohio
• Occupation: Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; was the firt Clerk and Treasurer
• Tax Record: 1786, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States
• Tax Record: 1788, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, United States
• Residence: 1798; in Ohio
• Occupation: 20 May 1811, Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; a shopkeeper; Address:
  opened the first store
• Land Patent: 20 Jul 1812, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; purchased 324.51 acres (Land Patent CV-0074-276); Address:
  East half of Section 25, Township 2, Range 6
• Property: 27 Jul 1813, Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; sold 1/2 acre for $25.00 to Daniel McNeal; Address:
  Lot #6 (a part of the E½ of Section 25, Township 2, Range 6)
• Property: 27 Jul 1813, Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; sold 1/2 acre for $250.00 to Isaac Woodward; Address:
  (Lot #5, the east half of Section 25, Township 2, Range 6)
• Property: 2 Aug 1813, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; sold 63 acres for $620 to John Beck; Address:
  (a part of the east half of Section 25, Township 2, Range 6)
• Property: 12 Oct 1813, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; sold 49 acres for $200.00 to John Benham; Address:
  (part of the E½, Section 25, Township 2, Range 6)
• Property: 12 Oct 1813, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; sold 52.28 acres for $200.00 to Levi Nutt Jr.; Address:
  (part of the east half of Section 25, Township 2, Range 6)
• Property: 25 Oct 1813, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; sold 100 acres for $1000 to Peter Crager; Address:
  (beginning at the northwest corner of the east half, Section 25,
• Property: 31 Dec 1813, Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; sold 50 acres for $700.00 to Aaron Nutt, Jr.; Address:
  Lot #6 (part of the East half of Section 25, Township 2, Range 6
• Property: 26 Aug 1814, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; ****sold for $200.00 to John Gottiddagh
• Property: 7 Feb 1815, Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; sold 1/2 acre for $75.00 to James Buchels, Jr.; Address:
  (north part of the half acre lot of land numbered three on the e
• Property: 16 Aug 1816, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; sold 100 acres for $150.00 to Ashael Wright; Address:
  (the south part of the lot lying and being in the town of Center
• Property: 23 Jun 1817, Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; sold 1/2 acre for $240.00 to John Norcross; Address:
  (lot numbered six on the east side of Main Street including stre
• Property: 28 Apr 1818, Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; purchased 1/2 acre for $300.00 from William Blair; Address:
  (Cross street Lot number fourteen, including 1/2 of said street
• Property: 13 Jun 1818, Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; sold 33 square rods and 462 square links for $200.00 to John Archer, Sr.
• Property: 2 Jun 1819, Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; purchased 2 acres for $75 from David Creamer; Address:
  (lot Numbered ten on the plat of said town of Centerville)
• Census: 1820, Washington Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; as Aaron Nutt, Sr.
• Census: 1830, Washington Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; as Aaron Nutt
• Census: 1840, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; as Aaron Nutt
• Will: 9 Oct 1841, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States
• Probate: 23 Aug 1842, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States
• History / Bio: 1882; The History of Montgomery County, Ohio (Chicago: W. H. Beers & Co., 1882), p362
• Newspaper: 22 Sep 2010; Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio), 16 September 2020, p111

Notes:

Record of the Nutt Family
by Joseph Nutt
June 24, 1894
...Your grandfather, Aaron Nutt, was a native of New Jersey. He was about six months old when the family moved to a point in Pennsylvania. From hearsay, it was Red Stone. After living there a while, his family, left for Kentucky. There they lived several years at different places. Your great grandparents kept tavern most of the time. Among their patrons they could claim such persons as General William Henry Harrison and wife. This incident I have frequently heard spoken of by different members of the family. My father used to tell it in this way: "One evening a lady with her servant rode up to the door and asked if they could have entertainment for the night. She was told they could. She alighted and the horses were unloaded of their baggage and cared for. After supper and an evening spent in social chat your great grandfather said his wife left the room to prepare bed for the lady who soon followed her and stood looking on for a while as the bed was being made. Then she spoke and said: 'I carry my bed clothing with me, but it will not be unpacked tonight for your clothing suits me.' Then she told me who she was. Some time after that," your great grandfather said, "one evening a gentleman rode up and wanted to know if he could have entertainment for the night. He was told he could. Then he wanted to know if he could have the same bed to sleep in that his wife had occupied some time ago. He told me who was. He was told he could have the same bed, which satisfíed him." In 1840 , when the General passed through Centerville, father asked him if he remembered the circumstance; "I do, and you too," was the reply.
...The family lived some years in Kentucky, but were not altogether satisfied with it on account of slavery and imperfect land titles. Hearing good reports from the Northwest from Judge Symmes coming into the neighborhood, a number of neighbors concluded to call on the Judge, who had made a large purchase of land from the government in the Miami Valley, and obtained from him a description of his land with terms and prices. Your great grandfather, Benjamin Robbins, and I think David and Benjamin Archer, who were also brothers-in-law of your great grandfather, were members the company calling on the Judge. When talking with the Judge the rule was one at a time. After your great grandfather had his say and stepped back for the next man this man said, as he pointed at your great grandfather, "Judge, you will not take that man, will you?" pointing to father. "Why not?" said the Judge. "Why," said the man, "he is a Quaker and will not fight the Injuns." "Well," said the Judge, "he is just the kind of a man I want, peacable colonists, not fighting ones."
...Returning home the company was soon made up and started with the surveyors for the Northwest. They landed on what now is the southeast farm adjoining Centerville. Camp was made, but Indian signs were soon discovered which caused a removal about a mile northeast, where a new camp was erected in a ravine. Here the company remained undisturbed, finishing up their work in the month of February, 1797. The wild rye was then up to the horses sides at a place just east of where the Methodist church now stands. After the surveying was finished and the platting done cuts were drawn for choice. Benjamin Robbins got first choice; he chose the west half of section 25; your great grandfather got last choice and took east of the above section. He always said he thought "Benny made a poor choice." The above section is now divided by the Dayton and Lebanon turnpike.
...After all had made their selections of land they started on the return to Kentucky. In the following spring Benjamin Robbins moved onto his wilderness land, being about the second family settling in what is now Washington township, Montgomery County, Ohio. He was ten days coming from Cincinnati, reaching here about April 6th, 1797. Your great grandfather came two years later, April 1st, 1799. His brother-in-law Robbins generously offered room in his cabin for his household goods but he said he would not unload until he had a cabin of his own. He started out for assistance in the erection of one and went as far as where Franklin now is to secure sufficient help. Every man that was invited came on the day appointed for the building of the cabin. They cut the logs, made the clap-boards and covered it and the family occupied it that night. Bedsteads were made by driving forked sticks into the ground and laying poles across, with one end between the house logs. He often said it looked very discouraging but they had good health and he had the help of two good boys. Your Uncle Levi and your grandfather must have done well in the way of clearing land for I find that he had a tan yard running as early as 1802. I copy a few entries from the tan yard book just as I find them, Orthography and all:

Aug. 11, 1802, Jonathan Munger brot a cow hide marked J.M.
Aug. 13, 1802, Jameds Snowden brot a horse hid marked J.S.
March 23, 1803, Justice Luce brought a steer hid marked J.L..
March 23, 1803, Peter Borders brot a bull hid marked P.B.
Arpil 11, 1803, John Cotrel brough a deer skin marked J.C.
April 13, 1803, Andrew Boyl brought a hid and a peace and a bear skin.
June 4, 1803, Conrad Carter brought a cow, a calf, four hogs, a dog and a bear skin.
Many other entries like these, heifer, sheep, and groundhog skins.

...In addition to the farm and the tan yard he opened the first tavern in the township. Its sign was a pair of bucks horns. He also opened the first store in Centerville, in May, 1811. The stock he brought from Baltimore, Maryland, in a cart. His visit to Baltimore and the purchasing of a stock of goods was brought about in this way. In the year 1811 he had to make payment for the land he had entered, or lose it. So in 1810 he went to work and raised all the corn he could and fattened hogs and also raised a lot of poultry. In company with some of his neighbors the produce was hauled to Cincinnati in wagons. Here they loaded two flat boats and set sail for New Orleans on December 13th, 1810, reaching that point in 67 days. The trip was prolonged by their stopping and coasting at different points on the river, selling his produce at good prices. Sausage sold at 37-1/2 cents per pound; cheese was sold at wholesale to traders met on the river; landing at New Orleans the remainder of the stock was soon sold. Then from information obtained from the captain of a vessel just in from Baltimore that prices were far better there than at New Orleans he bought a boat load of stuff from a man he found to be homesick. He bought these at reduced prices and shipped for Baltimore, where he made good sales and was soon clear of the stock. Then he thought he must do more trading. Accordingly he purchased a horse and cart, loaded same with goods, and brought them to Centerville where he opened the first store. It was on the present site of Mrs. N. V. Maxwell's residence. His license, or permit for selling, bears the date May 20th, 1811, signed B. VanCleve, clerk- C.P.P.
...Among the wholesale prices for 1815 I find: Lead pencils 31-1/4 cents; British Oil 37-1/2 cents per bottle; peppermint 28 cents per bottle; Godfrey's Cordial 37-1/2 cents per bottle; Bateman's drops 37-1/2 cents per bottle; camphor 30 cents per bottle; nutmegs 18 cents; needles 6-1/4 cents; allspice 75 cents per pound; apron check 50 cents per yard; lonsy $1 per yard; pink cambric 75 cents per yard; canbric $2.25 per yard; jaconett $1.62 per yard; pewter dishes $2.25 each. Retail prices: tea $2.50 a pound; 8 penny nails 21 cents; coffee 50 cents per pound; calico 87-1/2 cents per yard. This store was continued to near the close of 1817.
...To give the tan yard a good start he sold one hundred acres off the north end at $4 per acre. Then your grandfather was placed in the tan yard to learn the trade of a tanner. He operated there until about the year 1827, when he sold to Benjamin Hatfield, his son-in-law.
...Mary Nutt, the first wife of your great grandfather, died Sept. 22, 1817. He was again married Jan. 11th, 1818, to Martha Craig, whose maiden name was Pedrich. From this union were two children: Joseph, born Dec. 11th, 1818, and John born March 3rd, 1823. John married Annie Evans, the daughter of David and Rachel Evans. They were the parents of ten children, only four of whom are now living, namely, Robert, Edward, John Joseph and Howard.
...I will now give lengthy quotations from my brother's biography, published in the county history. In speaking of our father, Aaron Nutt, he says: "He was left fatherless at an early age, his mother marrying again. The boy was apprenticed to John Lippencott, a tailor, in 1776, for a term of seven years. Serving his employer nearly that time on the tailor board. At about this time the armies of the Revolution, under command of General Washington, were very active in the state of New Jersey, and as these were indeed trying times for our country and soldiers were much needed, both old and young were earnestly solicited to join the American forces. It was at this juncture that Lippencott was drafted into the military service, and as Aaron Nutt's apprenticeship was about to expire, Lippencott made this proposition to him; that if he would enter the army and serve Lippincott's time out he would in tum set him free. The proposition was accepted and Aaron Nutt joined a military company commanded by his cousin, Captain Israel Shreve. While in the ranks he was in one little skirmish with British light Horse and came off victorious. After that his services were principally that of teamster and riding spy. He never asked for or received any pension, but assisted others in procuring theirs."
...As his children married off he gave them each a farm located as follows: To John and Abigail Benham on the south side of the 100 acres he had sold. To Levi next south of them. To Aaron, your grandfather, the next tract south. To John and Sarah Beck the next south. He retained the remainder of the land for himself. To Richard and Moriah Benham he offered a farm on Hole's Creek, or a house and land in Centerville. They chose the latter. Samuel Harlan had a farm of in Centerville of his own. there he and Bathsheba lived until about 1830, when they moved to Park county, Indiana. I have now shown how the children were located.
...Quoting again from the Biography: "The father used to take pleasure in standing on his own premises and looking at the smoke as it came out of the chimneys of fíve of his children's homes. Here he was settled and remained during the balance of his life. Surrounded by a large circle of friends and relatives, who were always interested in his presence, he often gladdened the hours with recitals of events in which he had frequently been an active participant.
...He was a man of eminently correct habits of life, possessing a very superior constitution, temperate, industrious, and of a cheerful disposition, even marked to the end. When warned of approaching dissolution he seemed ready and willing to meet the change. The disease of which he died, though not of frequent occurrence, was incident to old age, and in this case, according to his skillful physician, Dr. A. B. Price, one of the most extraordinary cases of the kind ever known to the profession. The pain was very severe. It was first manifested in the left eye, after a while completely destroying the organ. The pain then passed to the heel and great toe of the right foot, then successively untill all the toes were in a like manner involved, then the foot was drawn up and dried until it seemed as hard and lifeless as stone. Earnest hopes were strongly entertained the disease could be arrested, but at the close of about the ninth month the powers of the constitution could stand the pressure no longer and death kindly terminated his struggle, June 2nd, 1842. Thus passed the life of a man, aged 83 years, 10 months and 16 days, who had never known what a real sickness was, and even used his tobacco up to within a few days of the last. His remains were buried in the old cemetery, one-half mile of Centerville, between the graves of his two wives. Peace to their remains.
Joseph Nutt, June 24th, 1894

...From 1785 to 1789 they lived in Redstone Fort, Pennsylvania. From 1790 to 1796 they lived at Dry Ridge, Kentucky which was in then Bourbon County but is now (1977) in Grant County. It is between Cincinnati, Ohio and Lexington, Kentucky on highway 75. They also lived in Versailles in Woodford County, Kentucky. In 1796 they moved to Centerville, Ohio. Three of their young children died of smallpox within a three week period in May of 1794. (Compiled by Irene L. Shrope, Nutt Family of Ohio and New Jersey, Revised and Up-Dated 1993 (Vandalia, Ohio: Authorized Distributor Donald A. Nutt, 1992), pg. 32.)

...In the spring of 1798, Mr. Nutt moved up with his family from Kentucky, stopping at his brother-in-law's (Robbins) cabin, he having moved up the year previous. Robbins wanted Nutt to unload his plunder and live with him until his cabin was built, but Nutt declined, saying, "No, I will unload my stuff into my own cabin."
...He went nine miles over to Franklin, the little settlement on the Miami at the mouth of Clear Creek, for help at the "raising", which, with the aid of six gallons of whisky, was done in a day, and the family occupied the cabin at night. He afterward put up a tavern sign of the "buck horns", of which he was landlord for many years.
...The Indian alarm in 1799 was an emergency that the settlers knew well how to meet; stockades were to be put up in all the neighborhoods large enough in which to quarter all of the families and strong enough to protect against savage attack. The horrors of Indian warfare were known too well to all.
...The settlers down in Mr. Nutt's neighborhood rallied at once and built a strong block-house, with stockage to enclose a spring on Peter Sunderland's land the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 26, east of and near to the road, and about a mile north of Centerville. Arrangements were complete for the dozen or more families down there to assemble, but scouts from the more exposed settlements reported that the Indians were not preparing for war against the whites; and it is probable that the block-house was not occupied.
...The Government had been lenient with the settlers in collection of money for land, but the time coming for settlement, Mr. Nutt went to Kentucky, hoping to collect what had long been due him there; failing to get it he determined to make a trip with produce to the New Orleans market.
...He, with others, built two flat-boats at Cincinnati, and, loading with horses, pork and poultry, started in December, 1810, upon a trading and coasting trip down the river, and sold out at New Orleans. Mr. Nutt within a few days bought a cargo of produce and shipped it around by sea to Baltimore, making a good profit on the venture.
...With part of his money he bought in Baltimore a horse and cart which he loaded with dry goods and brought overland to his home, arriving at Centerville after an absence of five months; in his own language, "as fat as a house pig", and besides his stock of goods, with money enough to pay his debts.
...With this stock of goods he opened the first store in Centerville. His license to sell the goods, dated May 20, 1811, was signed by Benjamin Van Cleve, Clerk, M. O.
...The children of Aaron and Mary Nutt were born before the family moved from Kentucky--Levi, February 5, 1780; Sarah, July 7, 1781; Mary, April 28, 1783; Aaron, May 31, 1787; Abigail, September 24, 1790; Ann, October 24, 1792; Bathsheba, February 2, 1795; Moriah, August 22, 1797.
...Mary his wife died at their home in Centerville September 22, 1817.
...January 11, 1818, Aaron Nutt married Widow Martha Craig, daughter of Isaac and Hannah Pedrick, born in Salem County, N. J., and came West with her parents to Warren County, Ohio, in 1805 or 1806.
...Their son Joseph Nutt was born at Centerville December 11, 1818; John was born March 3, 1823.
...Aaron Nutt died June 2, 1842; Martha, his widow, died March 20, 1856, aged nearly seventy-six years; they, with his first wife Mary, are buried in the old cemetery a half mile north of Centerville. (Referemce: "The History of Montgomery County Ohio", a reproduction by Unigraphic, Inc., Evansville, Indiana. Original by W. H. Beers & County, Chicago, Part I) pg. 362 - 364)

...In 1804, Aaron Nutt, paid on the 100 acres of the north end of his half-section of land, a tax of .50 cents. A few years later he sold the land for $4.00 per acre. (Referemce: W. H. Beers, History of Montgomery County, Ohio (1882; Reproduction, Evansville, Indiana: Unigraphic, Inc., 1973) Part II, Washington Township, pg. 22)

...The first store in Centerville was kept by Aaron Nutt, Sr., on the same lot on which the only dry goods store in the town now stands. His first stock of goods Mr. Nutt hauled in a cart from Baltimore. This was in the spring of 1811. Previous to this, Mr. Nutt had lost the money with which he expected to pay for his Ohio property by lending it to an irresponsible man in Kentucky. In 1810, seeing he must make some extra exertion in order to discharge his obligation, Mr. Nutt raised all the produce he was able to and purchased as much more as his means would permit. In company with John Price, Peter Sunderland and others, he loaded this on two flat-boats at Cincinnati, on the 13th of December, 1810, and started to "coast" down to New Orleans. They had many queer experiences with the Southern "aristocracy." At one point, when enumerating his commodities to a Southern lady, Mr. Nutt mentioned lard. "Have you lard?" quickly asked this daughter of the South. Upon his assuring her that he had it both in quantity and quality, she responded: "If you have lard, I'll take a barrel; so many of those dirty flat-boatmen come along here and want to sell me hog's fat, and I won't have that dirty stuff." He assured her that he had genuine lard, and she said she would send the "nigger" down to bring it up. This she did, and Mr. Nutt received his pay, congratulating himself that he had learned to call things by their right names, while the lady was not a little pleased to find one boatman who did not sell hog's fat.
...Arriving at New Orleans, these gentlemen sold their remaining stock at very advantageous prices. Peter Sunderland found that he had sold so much of his goods on credit that he had scarcely money enough to bring him home. But Mr. Price and Mr. Nutt had fared better, and, happening to meet with a sea Captain from Baltimore, who told them of fabulous prices paid for produce in that city, Mr. Nutt determined to invest in a flat-boat load which had just come in and take it there. The Captain who gave them information as to prices carried them both and Mr. Nutt 's merchandise to Baltimore, where he found prices even better than had been represented. Having again sold out his produce, Mr. Nutt invested in a horse and cart and a cart load of dry goods. These he hauled overland to Centerville, in the spring of 1811, fat and hearty from his sea voyage, and with enough money in his pocket to pay all his debts.
...We give below a copy of the "permit" which gave him the authority to start a store in Centerville:

The State of Ohio
Montgomery County SS. To All Who Shale See These Presents:
Be it known that by virture of the power in me vested by a law of this state entitled "An act for granting license and regulating ferries taverns and stores." Permission is hereby granted to Aaron Nutt Sr of Washington Township in this county to keep a store and vend merchandise at his house in said township from the date hereof until the next term of our court of Common Pleas to be holden at Dayton on the second Monday of September next according to the statute in such case made and provided. In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of our said Court of Common Pleas at Dayton the twentieth day of May one thousand eight hundred and eleven.

...Van Cleve, clk., M. C. P. p. t....Mr. Nutt was still in the business in 1815, and we find this list of wholesale prices for that year; Lead pencils, 31 cents; Britich oil, 37-1/2 cents per bottle; peppermint, 28 cents per bottle; Godfrey's cordial, 37-1/2 cents per bottle; Bateman's drops, 37-1/2 cents per bottle; camphor, 5- cents per bottle; nutmegs, 18 cents; darning-needles, 6-1/2 cents; allspice, 75 cents per pound; apron check, 50 cents per yard; linsey, 81 per yard; pink cambric, 75 cents per yard; cambric, $2.25 per yard; Jackanett, $1.62 per yard; pewter dish, $2.25.
...Among other things we notice that the retail price of tea, in 1813, was $2.50 per pound; of 8-penny nails, 21 cents per pound; coffee, 30 cents per pound; calico, 87-1/2 cents per yard.
...But probably the most expensive article which the early settlers had to buy was salt. Benjamin Maltbie paid $26.87-1/2 for a barrel of salt in Cincinnati.
...The first tavern kept in the township was by Aaron Nutt, Sr. This house, or, more properly, log cabin, was opened up about 1800, just north of the town plat, where Frank Harris now resides. Its sign was a pair of buck's horns, and it enjoyed a moderate share of patronage, but was only continued a short time.
...Washington Township has not had much experience with slaves, but there are one or two incidents worthy of mention which occurred in the earlier days. There was a law in Ohio in the forepart of this century under which indigent persons were sold to the lowest bidder, not as slaves, but as paupers, kept at publci expense. We take the following entry from Aaron Nutt, Sr's, journal, relative to one of these public sales:

"June 20, 1819.--Seel was advertise July 3: was sold to the Loest Bidder, which was Levy Nutt; sold for $50 by Aaron Nutt. Sener. & Isack woodward, oversers
of the Poor for washington township."

...This could in no case be called a sale for the personal liberty of the above mentioned person, who, by the way, was a colored woman, but the Overseers of the Poor merely let out the contract of keeping her to the person who was willing to do it for the least money. (Referemce: W. H. Beers, History of Montgomery County, Ohio (1882; Reproduction, Evansville, Indiana: Unigraphic, Inc., 1973) Part II, Washington Township, pg. 11, 12.)

...December 15, 1816, Montgomery County, Ohio: Isaac Middleton an orphan age 14 chose Aaron Nutt as his guardian. Case 257 - Doc C-1, page 116.
...Moses Nutt Branson, son of Samuel Branson and Charlotte Nutt was orphaned and he ran away and went to live with Aaron Nutt, Sr. in about 1817. Aaron Nutt, Sr. was a brother of Moses Nutt, grandfather of Moses Nutt Branson.

By Sandra Baer, Contributing Writer
3:22 PM Friday, September 17, 2010 Dayton Daily News
...Aaron Nutt called a man of ‘correct habits’
Having a neighbor like Aaron Nutt would be a dream come true for most people. A multitalented man, he was just as much at home in the woods with a gun as he was in young Centerville where he surveyed land, operated a tannery where leather was made and constructed his house and sidewalks in town. He also was known for being a fine tailor, a skill he learned from the ages of 14 to 21 when he apprenticed with a local tailor in Mount Holly, N.J.
...Born into a Quaker family on July 17, 1758, Nutt retained his Quaker values and didn’t actively fight the British during the Revolutionary War, but instead served in the New Jersey Militia as a scout and a teamster.
..“He was a man of eminently correct habits of life, possessing superior constitution, temperate, industrious and of a cheerful disposition even marked to the end,” wrote, Nutt’s son, Joseph, of his father.
...On April 1, 1799, Nutt arrived in Centerville, spelled Centreville at the time, from Kentucky where he had lived since 1788. He traveled through thick wilderness to survey and claim 320 acres of land in what is now the center of town.
...Although, he was offered a place to store his belongings until a cabin could be built, Nutt, who was planning to build quickly, refused saying, “I am not going to unpack until I enter my own cabin.”
...Traveling with Nutt was his wife Mary Archer Nutt, whom he had wed in 1779, and their six children. Prior to the move, the couple had buried three children, who were victims of smallpox in Kentucky.
...Mary Nutt died at the age of 61 in 1817.
...Nutt married a Warren County woman, Martha Pedrick Craig, in 1818 and they went on to start their own family, which included two sons, Joseph and John. The Nutt land became fragmented as Nutt gave each of his children a portion of his land.
...Although he was a busy man, Nutt also owned a tavern, The Sign of the Bucks Horn, and ran for office in Washington Twp., where he served as supervisor of roads and overseer of the poor.
...In 1842, Nutt died and was buried in the old Centerville Cemetery next to his two wives.

Property:

Signed: Aaron Nutt and Mary Nutt
Witness: Aaron Nutt, Jr and David NcNeal
vC, p168

Property:

Signed: Aaron Nutt and Mary Nutt
Witness: James C. Anderson and Richard (his mark) Benham
vC, p167

Property:

Signed: Aaron Nutt and Mary (her mark) Nutt
Witness: John Benham and Levi Nutt
vC, p228

Property:

Signed: Aaron Nutt and Mary (her mark) Nutt
Witness: John Price and I. George Reeder
vC, p273

Property:

Signed: Aaron Nutt, Sen and Mary (her mark) Nutt
Witness: Isaac Woodard and Wm. McCain
vC, p299

Property:

Signed: Aaron Nutt and Mary Nutt
Witness: Isaac Woodward and George Reeder
vC, p270

Property:

Signed: Aaron Nutt and Mary (her mark) Nutt
Witness: Josiah Clawson and Isaac Wordward
vC, p321

Property:

Signed: Aaron Nutt and Mary (her mark) Nutt
Witness: John Price and William Codington
vD, p14

Property:

Aaron Nutt, Sr. and Mary his Wife of Montgomery County, Ohio
Sold 1/2 acre including street and alley for $75.00
to James Buchels, Jr. of Montgomery County, Ohio
The north part of the half acre lot of land numbered three on the east side of Main Street in the Town of Centerville
Signed: Aaron Nutt and Mary (her mark) Nutt
Witness: John Price and Isaac Woodard
Recorded: 26 July 1815, Deed Records vol. D, page 302-303

Property:

Signed: Aaron Nutt and Mary Nutt
Witness: John Price and William Dill
vE, p292

Property:

Signed: Aaron Nutt and Mary Nutt
Witness: William Buckles and James Russell
vF, p147

Property:

Signed: William (his mark) Blair, Sen and Elizabeth (her mark) Blair
Witness: George Reeder and Brin Blair
vG, p25

Property:

Signed: Aaron Nutt senr and Martha Nutt
Witness: W. J. Lodge and John Edwards
vG, p418

Property:

Signed: David Creamer
Witness: Peter Creamer and H. T. Hatson
vG, p395

History / Bio:

Aaron Nutt
Who came to this county from Kentucky, was a soldier of the Revolution. After that war he came west with his little family, seeking a home and land that were due him under the bounty laws of the Government.
His parents, Levi and Ann, lived in Monmouth County N. J., where, July 17, 1758, their son Aaron was born. The father died when his boy was but two years old, who, when he became old enough, was apprenticed by his mother to a tailor. During his last year of apprenticeship, the war of the Revolution being then in progress, his boss was pressed into the army, but induced Aaron to go in his stead by giving him the rest of his time, and setting him free. Inspired with the patriotism of the times, and although not yet twenty years of age, he gladly accepted the opportunity of entering the country's service, and at once enlisted.
After the expiration of his term of enlistment, he, on the 4th of May 1779, married Mary, daughter of Joseph and Sarah Archer, born November 28, 1756. About the close of the war, when so many soldiers were attracted by the glowing accounts of the rich lands west of the mountains Aaron Nutt moved with his family as far west as Redstone Old Fort, Pennsylvania, where they lived for a time, and when by reason of the aggressive movements against the Indians in the Northwest, it became safe, he moved to Central Kentucky, where near one of the block-houses on the "Dry ridge," the divide between the Kentucky and Licking Rivers, he kept tavern for several years. With the opening of traffic along the Ohio River, and the tide of emigration setting in so strongly to the lands northwest of the Ohio, his business was greatly reduced. He determined to again change location.
After a visit to the Miami Valley, he, in 1796, came with a party of surveyors from Cincinnati as far as where Centerville now is, and selected 320 acres of land, the east half of Section 25, Town 3, Range 6, between the Miami Rivers, his brother-in-law Benjamin Robbins taking the west half. These two tracts were separated by the Dayton & Lebanon pike; the north half of the town of Centerville platted upon parts of them. Joseph Nutt, son of Aaron, owns and lives upon part of the land entered by his father nearly one hundred years ago.
In the spring of 1798, Mr. Nutt moved up with his family from Kentucky, stopping at his brother-in-law's (Robbins) cabin, he having moved up the year previous. Robbins wanted Nutt to unload his plunder and live with him until his cabin was built, but Nutt declined, saying, "No, I will unload my stuff into my own cabin."
He went nine miles over to Franklin, the little settlement on the the Miami at the mouth of Clear Creek, for help at the "raising," which, with the aid of six gallons of whisky, was done in a day, and the family occupied the cabin at night. He afterward put up a tavern, sign of the "buck horns," of which he was landlord for many years.
The Indian alarm in 1799 was an emergency that the settlers knew well now to meet; stockades were to be put up in all the neighborhoods large enough in which to quarter all of the families and strong enough to protect against savage attack. The horrors of Indian warfare were known too well to all.
The settlers down in Mr. Nutt's neighborhood rallied at once and built a strong block-house, with stockage to inclose a spring on Peter Sunderland's land the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of Section 26, east of and near to the road, and about a mile north of Centerville. Arrangements were complete for the dozen or more families down there to assemble, but scouts from the more exposed settlements reported that the Indians were not preparing for war against the whites; and it is probable that the block-house was not occupied.
The Government had been lenient with the settlers in collection of money or land, but the time coming for settlement, Mr. Nutt went to Kentucky, hoping to collect what had long been due him there; failing to get it he determined to make a trip with produce to the New Orleans market.
He, with others, built two flat-boats at Cincinnati, and, loading with horses, pork and poultry, started in December, 1810, upon a trading and coasting trip down the river, and sold out at New Orleans. Mr Nutt within a few days brought a cargo of produce and shipped it around by sea to Baltimore, making a good profit on the venture.
With part of his money he bought in Baltimore a horse and cart which he loaded with dry goods and brought overland to his home, arriving at Centerville after an absence of five months; in his own language, "as fat as a house pig," and besides his stock of goods, with money enough to pay his debts.
With this stock of goods he opened the first store in Centerville. His license to sell the goods, dated May 20, 1811, was signed by Benjamin Van Cleve, Clerk, M. C.
The children of Aaron and Mary Nutt were born before the family moved from Kentucky—Levi, February 5, 1780; Sarah, July 7, 1781; Mary, April 28, 1783; Aaron, May 31, 1787; Abigail, September 24, 1790; Ann, October 24, 1792; Bathsheba, February 2, 1795; Moriah, August 22, 1797.
Mary his wife died at their home in Centerville September 22, 1817.
January 11, 1818, Aaron Nutt married Widow Martha Craig, daughter of Isaac and Hannah Pedrick, born in Salem County, N. J., and came West with her parents to Warren County, Ohio, in 1805 or 1806.
Their son Joseph Nutt was born at Centerville December 11, 1818; John was born March 3, 1823.
Aaron Nutt died June 2, 1842; Martha, his widow, died March 20, 1856, aged nearly seventy-six years; they, with his first wife Mary, are buried in the old cemetery a half mile north of Centerville.

Newspaper:

Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) 16 September 2020, p111
Aaron Nutt called a man of "correct habits"
Having a neighbor like Aaron Nutt would be a dream come true for most people. A multitalented man, he was just as much at home in the woods with a gun as he was in young Centerville where he surveyed land, operated a tannery where leather was made and constructed his house and sidewalks in town. He also was known for being a fine tailor, a skill he learned from the ages of 14 to 21 when he apprenticed with a local tailor in Mount Holly, N.J.
Born in a Quaker family on July 17, 1758, Nutt retained his Quaker values and didn't actively fight the British during the Revolutionary War, but instead served in the New Jersey Militia as a scout and a teamster.
"He was a man of eminently correct habits of life, possessing superior constitution, temperate, industrious and a cheerful disposition even marked to the end," wrote Nutt's son, Joesph of his father.
On April 1, 1799, Nutt arrived in Centerville, spelled Centreville at the time, from Kentucky where he had lived since 1788. He traveled through thick wilderness to survey and claim 320 acres of land in what is now the center of town.
Although, he was offered a place to store his belongings until a cabin could be built, Nutt, who was planning to build quickly, refused saying "I am not going to unpack until I enter my own cabin."
Traveling with Nutt was his wife Mary Archer Nutt, whom he had wed in 1779, and their six children. Prior to the move, the couple had buried three children, who were victims of smallpox in Kentucky.
Mary Nutt did at the age of 61 in 1817.
Nutt married a Warren County woman, Martha Pedrick Craig, in 1818 and they went on to start their own family, which included two sons, Joseph and John. The Nutt land became fragmented as Nutt gave each of his children a portion of his land.
Although he was a busy man, Nutt also owned a tavern The Sign of the Bucks Horn, and ran for office in Washington Twp., where he served as supervisor of roads and overseer of the poor.
In 1842, Nutt died and was buried in the old Centerville Cemetery next to his two wives. by Columist Sandra Baer

Aaron married Mary Archer on 4 May 1779 in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Mary (daughter of Joseph Archer and Sarah Shreve) was born on 28 Nov 1756 in Mansfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey, British Colonial America; died on 22 Sep 1817 in Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; was buried in Sep 1817 in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Aaron married Martha Pedrick on 13 Jan 1818 in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. Martha was born on 21 Aug 1780 in Pedricktown, Salem County, New Jersey, United States; died on 20 Mar 1856 in Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; was buried in Mar 1856 in Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Census: 1840, Washington Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States

Notes:

Robbins, Bathsheba p442 Montgomery County Will Book D
Dated Mar. 11, 1847 Rec. Nov. 18, 1848
To Ann sunderland, Abigail Cavender, Elizabeth Nolen Sr. and Lewis N. Robbins; the four ch. of Richard Robbins, David, Savilla Aun, Rossville and Samuel; the four ch. of Joseph Fisk, to wit., Sheldon, Dewitt C., Samuel, Elvira
Ex. Aaron Sunderland
Wit. Samuel S. Robbins, John D. Blodgett, Benjamin Davis

Bathsheba married Benjamin Robbins in 1782 in Burlington, New Jersey, United States. Benjamin was born on 29 Nov 1760 in Monmouth County, New Jersey, British Colonial America; died on 3 Jun 1837 in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; was buried in Jun 1837 in Centerville, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Property: 12 Oct 1813, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States; purchased 52.28 acres for $200.00 from Aaron Nutt, Sr.; Address:
  (part of the east half of Section 25, Township 2, Range 6)

Notes:

Property:

Signed: Aaron Nutt, Sen and Mary (her mark) Nutt
Witness: Isaac Woodard and Wm. McCain
vC, p299

Aaron married Miriam Middleton in 1793. Miriam was born on 10 Feb 1766; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Aaron married Ann Ivins in 1799 in Crosswicks, Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. Ann (daughter of Moses Ivins and Keziah Shreve) was born on 12 Jan 1768; died on 1 Nov 1851 in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]