Nicolaus Vetter

Other Events:

• Name: Nichol Vetter
• Name: Nickel Vetter

Notes:

The progenitors of many of the Fetters families residing in the United States today were Nicolaus (Nickel) and Maria Elisabetha Vetter of Freinsheim, Palatinate, Germany. Church records usually refer to Nicolaus by his nickname, Nickel or Nicol. Freinsheim church records were destroyed during the war of Orleans in 1688-89.

Children all born at Freinsheim.

Note: Veter in German means male cousin

Buried:
date unknown

Nicolaus married Maria Elisabetha _____ in 1693 in Freinsheim Pfaltz, Bayern, Germany. Maria was born on 18 Nov 1670 in Freinsheim, Bad Durkheim, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany; died on 4 Nov 1723 in Freinsheim, Bad Durkheim, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany; was buried on 4 Nov 1723 in Freinsheim, Bad Durkheim, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Name: Heinrich George Fetter
• Confirmation: 1708, Freinsheim, Rheinland-Palatinate, Germany

Other Events:

• Baptism: 7 Sep 1698, Erpolzheim, Bavaria, Germany; Address:
  Evangelical Reformed Church
• Immigration: 17 Aug 1729, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; on the ship Mortonhouse from Rotterdam

Hans married Anna Margaretha Seÿfriedt on 7 Sep 1723 in Freinsheim, Rheinland-Palatinate, Germany. Anna was born about 1700 in Freinsheim, Rheinland-Palatinate, Germany; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Baptism: 25 Jul 1700, Erpolzheim, Bavaria, Germany; Address:
  Evangelical Reformed Church

Other Events:

• Baptism: 5 Mar 1702, Erpolzheim, Bavaria, Germany; Address:
  Evangelical Reformed Church
• Confirmation: 1717, Freinsheim, Rheinland-Palatinate, Germany

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

Other Events:

• Occupation: wheelwright and farmer
• Baptism: 16 Mar 1704, Erpolzheim, Bavaria, Germany; Address:
  Evangelical Reformed Church
• Confirmation: 1719, Freinsheim, Rheinland-Palatinate, Germany
• Immigration: 10 Sep 1731, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; aboard the ship Pennsylvania Merchant with wife, children and sister
• Name: Oct 1736; Michael Fetter
• Property: 26 Oct 1736, Oley, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; was granted a warrant for survey of 100 acres of land
• Survey: 1 Apr 1738; Survey of 150 acres and 50 perches on Warrant granted Michael Fetter returned
• Religion: 1741

Notes:

...Emigrated to America aboard the 'Pennsylvania Merchant' from Rotterdam with his wife Katrina, his two children, young Michael and little Katrina, and two adults, Helena, believed to be his sister Maria Magdalena) and Katrina (relationship unknown)....Arrived in Philadelphia 10 September 1731, and Michael took the Oath of Allegiance to the crown of Great Britain and the Province of Pennsylvania the next day.
...On 26 oct. 1736 he purchased a land warrant for 100 acres in Oley, Philadelphia County. The survey was dated 1 Apr. 1738.
...Naturalized 7 apr. 1761. (Source: Mary Emma Curtis, The Michael Fetters Family : From Their German Roots in Direct Descent to Michael Fetters (1819-1875) of Burr Oak, Indiana and His Descendants. (Clearwater, Florida, 1998), pg. 9.)

Johan married Maria Catharina Weber on 2 Jul 1726 in Erpolzheim, Bavaria, Germany. Maria (daughter of Nicolaus Weber) was born about 1706 in Germany; died before 1788 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Baptism: 3 Oct 1706, Erpolzheim, Bavaria, Germany; Address:
  Evangelical Reformed Church
• Confirmation: 1722, Freinsheim, Rheinland-Palatinate, Germany

Other Events:

• Immigration: 17 Aug 1729, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; on the ship Mortonhouse
• Religion: 1741, Oley, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; Address:
  Oley Moravian
• Will: 13 Mar 1777, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States
• Probate: 7 Jul 1777, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States

Notes:

Jacob Vetter (Feder/Fetter) was born in Freinsheim, Germany. His parents were Nickel Vetter (Vatter) and Maria Elisabetha. He was confirmed at Freinsheim Reformed Church in 1725. He came to America on the ship "Mortonhouse" in 1729. He was naturalized in April of 1743, Philadelphia.

A member of Oley Moravian Congregation, he later moved to Bethlehem, then later to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His profession was cabinet maker. He married in 1732 to Magdalena Berlolet. They had 9 children. Magdalena died in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania 28 September 1755, age 46.
Their children were:
1. Johann Daniel
2. Johann Gottlieb
3. Peter
4. son
5. stillborn son
6. stillborn son
7. Nathaniel
8. Johann Jacob
9. Maria Salome

His second marriage was to Christina Metz on April 17, 1756. They had 6 children. She died in Lancaster in 1791.
(Courtesy of Find A Grave Memorial 16280194)

Will:

Will of Jacob Vetter
In the name of God amen! I Jacob Fetter of the Borough of Lancaster in the County of Lancaster and in the province of Pennsylvania Chairmaker, being aged and at present under some indisposition, but thanks be to God, of sound and perfect mind memory and understanding Do on this thirteenth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy seven, make and ordain this my last will and testament in manner following to wit, I recommend my soul to God, and my body I commit to the earth, to be buried in a decent and Christian like manner, at the discretion of my herein after named executors, in humble hopes of pardon and remission of all my sins in and through the merits and interceptions of my blessed Saviour and Redeemer Jesus Christ and am happy admissions into the Regions of Bliss and immortality, and as for my worldly estate, I give devise and dispose of the same as follows viz:
—Imprimis, it is my will and I do order that my just debts and funeral expences be paid of and discharged by my Executors herein after named as soon as conveniently may be done after my God grant happy decease.
—Item I will order and direct that my herein after name Executors the survivors or survivor of them after my God grant happy decease as soon as convenient may be shall sell the house and lot of ground whereon I now live, as also a lot in Mosserstown together also with all and singular my stock and household goods whatsoever (except what I have given and bequeathed on the former page of this sheet to my loving wife Christine) and I do hereby impower my hereinafter mentioned Executors or the survivors or survivor of them to make and give unto the purchaser or purchaser of my said real estate or estates so sold good and lawful deeds under their hands and seals, the same to have and to hold to them their heirs and assigns forever, and out of the monies arising from the sales of my house and lots, stock and household goods, I order and direct my Executors the survivors or survivor of them to pay off all my just debts, and after they are discharged, it is my will and I do hereby order that the overplus of the money that may yet remain be put out upon interest for the use benefit support and maintenance of my said loving wife Christina during her natural life, with proviso, she stays my widow, but in case she my said loving wife should marry again, than and in such a case, I give and bequeathe unto her, one fourth part of the above said overplus money, and after my said loving wife's marriage or God grant happy decease, which perhaps might happen first, I first give and bequeath unto each of my four following children viz: Jacob, John, Catharine and Eve, the full sum of fifteen pounds lawful money of Pennsylvania, to have before hand in order to put them on and equal footing with the rest of my elder children, - and then I will and order the rest or residue of the remaining money to be equally divided amongst all my children viz: Daniel, Godliss, Peter, Jacob, John, Salome, Catharine, Eva, their heirs and assigns, share and share alike.
—And Lastly I nominate and appoint my said loving wife Christina my trusty friend Henry Dehuss and Petter Fetter my son, Executors of this my last will, and testament, revoking hereby all former will or wills, testament or testaments by me at any time made heretofore, and declaring this and no other to be and contain my last will and testament. In Witness whereof I have Hereunto set my hand and seal on the day and year first herein written. (the mark of) Jacob Fetter
Signed sealed published pronounced and declared by the testator as his last will and testament in the presence of us.
John Miller,
Peter Reitzel
J. S. Loeser

Jacob married Maria Magdalena Bertolait in 1732 in Oley, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America. Maria was born on 12 Jul 1715 in Minfeld, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany; died on 28 Sep 1755 in Lancaster, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jacob married Christina Metz on 17 Apr 1756 in Lititz, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America. Christina was born on 26 Feb 1732 in Meddersheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany; died on 23 May 1791 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Baptism: 4 Mar 1711, Erpolzheim, Bavaria, Germany; Address:
  Evangelical Reformed Church
• Immigration: 10 Sep 1731, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; aboard the ship Pennsylvania Merchant with her brother

Other Events:

• Baptism: 25 Mar 1714, Erpolzheim, Bavaria, Germany; Address:
  Evangelical Reformed Church

Other Events:

• Emigration: Freinsheim, Bayern-Pfalz, Germany; aboard the ship Pennsylvania Merchant, from Rotterdam
• Name: 2 Dec 1727; Johan Michael Vetter
• Baptism: 7 Dec 1727, Erpolzheim, Bavaria, Germany; Address:
  Evangelical Reformed Church
• Immigration: 10 Sep 1731, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; arrived at Philadelphia
• Immigration: 11 Sep 1731; signed the Oath of Allegiance to England
• Property: 10 Jun 1749, Alsace Township, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; was granted a warrant for survey of 25 acres
• Residence: 1750, Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States; moved to
• Military: 1756; signed an allegation to serve as a soldier in his Majesty's service under the command of Captain John Vanetta during the French and Indiana War
• Property: 21 Mar 1768; survey of 300 acres
• Property: 11 Oct 1774; a warrant for a tract of 229 acres for the price of 7 pounds, 9 shillings
• Property: 3 Dec 1774, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; patent was recorded and became known as Feather's Farm
• Property: 1776, Frankstown Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States; purchased 189 acres
• Property: 1777; built Fetter's Fort
• Tax Record: 1783, Frankstown Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States; as Michael Fetter
• Census: 1786, Frankstown Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States; Septennial Census as Michael Fetter
• Tax Record: 1786, Frankstown Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States; as Michael Fetter
• Tax Record: 1788, Frankstown Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; as Michael Fetter, Sr.
• Probate: 8 Dec 1789, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States

Notes:

...Emigrated to America with his parents, arriving in Philadelphia 10 Sept. 1731.
...On 10th June 1749 acqured Warrant for 25 acres in Alsace Township, Philadelphia Co.
...In 1750 moved to Strasburg; in 1754 to Middle Town; in 1756 served in French & Indian War; in 1768 to Bedford County, where he bought 229 acres near Dunning Creek.
...In 1776 purchased 189 acres near Frankstown, where he built a drist mill and, in 1777 Fetter's Fort, for use in Revolutionary War.
..."As the years passed, young Michael Fetter Jr. began to accumulate property with his earnings as wheelwright. A land warrant was issued on June 10 1749 to Michael Feather Jun. for twenty-five acres in Alsace Township of Philadelphia county (now in Berks County) next to the property of Michael Feather, Sen.
...By 1750, Michael had moved south to the village of Strasburg in Lancaster County, which lay on the Conestoga Trail. This area had been granted to a number of Swiss immigrants in 1710 and it was here that the great Conestoga wagons were built. These served not only as freight wagons for Philadelphia merchants, but as pioneer family transportation for those who were willing to risk the challenges of the wild west of the Pennsylvania beyond the Susquehanna River.
...It was in Strasburg that Michael owned parcel 4a, purchased from John Pontz and his wife Anna, as well as parcel 10a, purchased from John Fautz and his wife ann (Pontz and Fautz may be two spellings of the same name). Michael and his wife Christina sold their parcel 4a to Conrad Leonard (Lenard) and his wife Barbara on july 10, 1750. It appears that Michael and his wife then moved northwestward to Middle Town on the Susquehanna downstream from Harrisburg, since on June 26, 1764 the couple sold a lot on the south side of the Market Place in Middle Town to Martin Gryter of Don'l Township for 50 pounds." (Source: Mary Emma Curtis, The Michael Fetters Family : From Their German Roots in Direct Descent to Michael Fetters (1819-1875) of Burr Oak, Indiana and His Descendants. (Clearwater, Florida, 1998), pg. 9)

Immigration:

Michael Feder, 27, residence Freinsheim, Bayern-Pfalz
Maria Catharina (Weber), over 16
Johann Michael Feder, 13
Anna Catharina Feder, 11
Anna Catharina Feder (sister), 24
Maria Magdalena Feder (sister), 20

Johan married Maria Catharina Schmied on 24 Nov 1747 in New Providence Township, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America. Maria was born on 28 Feb 1728; died after 1796. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Baptism: 13 Aug 1730, Erpolzheim, Bavaria, Germany; Address:
  Evangelical Reformed Church
• Immigration: 10 Sep 1731, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; aboard the ship Pennsylvania Merchant with father and family

Other Events:

• Census: 1786, Frankstown Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States
• Tax Record: 1786, Frankstown Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States
• Census: 1790, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States
• Guardian: 25 Mar 1790, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; of Samuel Fetter, after the death of their father; Address:
  Orphans Court
• Guardian: 1 Jun 1790, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; of Elizabeth Fetter, after the death of their father; Address:
  Orphans Court
• Property: 6 Feb 1796, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; Sale of Fetters Farm
• Census: 1810, Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States
• Census: 1820, Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States

Other Events:

• Newspaper: Ohio Repository (Canton)
• Census: 1779, Bedford Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States; Septennial Census as George Feather
• Census: 1786, Frankstown Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States; Septennial Census as George Fetter
• Tax Record: 1786, Frankstown Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States; as George Fetter
• Tax Record: 1788, Frankstown Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; on 100 acres, 2 horses and 3 cattle
• Census: 1790, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; as George Fetter
• Land Patent: 27 Sep 1790, Frankstown Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; survey of 100 acres
• Property: 6 Feb 1796, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; Sale of Fetters Farm
• Land Patent: 5 Apr 1796, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; survey of 400 acres
• Census: 1800, Allegheny Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; as George Fetters
• Land Patent: 30 Jul 1812, Stark County, Ohio, United States; received Land Patent CV-0014-524 for 160 acres; Address:
  (Ohio River Survey, South East Quarter of Section 29, Township 9
• Land Patent: 23 Jan 1813, Stark County, Ohio, United States; received Land Patent CV-0017-370 for 160 acres; Address:
  (Ohio River Survey, South West Quarter, Section 24, Township 9 N
• Land Patent: 5 Jun 1816, Stark County, Ohio, United States; received Land Patent CV-0029-119 for 160 acres; Address:
  (Ohio River Survey, South East Quarter, Section 24, Township 9 N
• Probate: 22 Dec 1823, Stark County, Ohio, United States
• Newspaper: 5 Apr 1825

Notes:

...George Fetters, Michael's oldest boy, married Elizabeth Switzer and the couple had a family of 12 between 1770 and 1790. George appeared on the Bedford Township, Bedford Co. tax lists in 1778. by 1784. he had a family of seven and in the next six years, it grew to eleven. On March 11, 1789, George paid 25 pounds for 300 acres to James Ferrel who held a warrant issued to Michael Hodgkins on November 15, 1785. The land was located on the headwaters of the Little Juniata River in Antis Township next to Thomas and John Coleman's property. He held 116 acres of this land for the rest of his life.
...George administered his father's estate at his mother's request in 1789. He served as an attorney in Allegheny Township of Huntingdon County when he became his brother Daniel's attorney in 1809.
...George had served as overseer of the poor for Allegheny Township in 1797. He was County Supervisor in 1798 and 1800, and he served as Constable in 1801.
...In the 1800 census, George was maintaining a household of 16 which probably included some in-law children and grandchildren. He owned several sections of land in Blair County including a warrant for 400 acres next to John Blair and William Fetters Improvement in Allegheny Township. On December 2, 1813, he sold his land to Adam Crick and John Riggie for $150.00.
... He purchased and consolidated several small tracts of land for $398.20 on july 2, 1811. This 199 acres next to John Holliday's property was later sold to Thomas Snyder for $1,500.00.
...George also held a warrant issued on September 27, 1780 for 100 acres on the west branch to Blair's Mill Branch along the foot of Alleghney Mountain between the branch and the olf gap where the Indian path led to Kitanning Old Town from Frankstown.
...In 1810 and 1811 George was reappointed Overseer of the Poor.
...In 1812, George secured a patent with the date of July 30 from President Madison through the Steubenville, Ohio Land Office and purchased 163.2 acres in Stark County, Ohio at $2.00 an acre. A short time later, George and his family moved to Stark Co. leaving at least the oldest son, Jacob, on the Antis Township property in Blair Co. another son, George Jr., who was raising his own family, also stayed behind, but four years later moved to Stark Co.
...George (Sr.) found that the land he had purchased was heavily timbered in this section of Pike Township and he was forced to clear it with only simple tools and the help of his sons: George, Philip and Daniel.

...George Fetter had been one of the early settlers in the Upper Juniata Valley in Pennsylvania. He had joined his father and brothers at their grist mill (the Fetter's Mill Tract) and helped defend the area at Fetter's Fort during the Revolutionary War. He married Elizabeth Switzer in 1770, and first appeared on the Tax Lists of Bedford Township in 1776. In the 1788 Assessment of Frankstown, when it became a part of Huntingdon County, he owned 100 acres of land, 2 horses and 2 cows. valued at 129 pounds.
...His main property was on the headwaters of the Little Juniata River in Antis Township north of Altoona, between Riggles Gap Run and Sugar Run, near the Antis Cemetery and Salem Church. On march 11, 1789 he paid 25 pounds for this 400-acre property to James Ferrel, who held a warrant issued to Michael Hodgkins on November 15, 1785. It was located on Clearfield Creek, next to Thomas and John Coleman's property. He held 116 acres of this land for the rest of his life.
...George Fetter also bought other sections of land in Blair and Huntingdon Counties, including:

...Warrant #105 dated April 5, 1798 for 400 acres next to John Blair and William Fetters Improvement in Allegheny Township. On December 2, 1813 he sold this land to Adam Crick and John Riggle for $150.00.
...A warrant issued September 27, 1790 for 100 acres on the west branch of Blair's Mill Branch, along the foot of Allegheny Mountain, between the branch and the gap where the old Indian path led to Kittanning.
...On July 2, 1811 he purchased and consolidated several small tracts of land for $398.10. these 199 acres, next to John Holliday's property, were later sold to Thomas Snyder for $1,500.

...In the 1790 census, George Fetter was maintaining a household of 11 and in 1800, the family had increased to 16, which probably included some in-law children and grandchildren.
...The 1794 Tax List for Allegheny Township (at that time embracing areas of the present Allegheny, Logan and Antis Townships) shows that George owned 400 acres; and his brothers Michael Jr. and John each owned 30 acres.
...George and his brother Daniel had administered their father's estate, at their mother's request, in 1789. George served as an attorney in Allegheny Township in 1809, when Daniel (then living in Ohio) requested George to collect all debts due him. George also held the following Allegheny Township offices:

1797 - Appraiser
1798 - Overseer of the Poor
1800 - Overseer of the Poor
1801 - Constable
1810 - Overseer of the Poor
1811 - Overseer of the Poor

...While still a resident of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, George Fetter began buying land in Pike Township, Stark County, Ohio, through the Land Office at Steubenville, Ohio. His first purchase was the Southeast Quarter of Section 29 (Township 9, Range 8), which he acquired for $2 an acre. He received a U. S. Patent signed by President James Madison for this land (160 acres) on July 30, 1812. This tract was to become the "Homestead Farm" for three generations of Fetters - George, his son George Jr., and grandson Benjamin. Then on Quarter of Section 24, which lies northeast of the present town of East Sparta. In May of 1813, Peter Michael (husband of George's daughter Catherine) bought land in the Southeast Quarter of Section 24 at the Steubenville Land Office, and it was paid in full March 18, 1816 ($326.50). The Patent, when issued on June 5, 1816, was to George Fetters, as assignee of Peter Michael. Perhaps this was to George's son, George Fetters Jr.
...So, in late 1812, George Fetter (at age 64), his wife Elizabeth and most of his married children migrated to Ohio. With this move, their surname now became "Fetters". George and Elizabeth took up residence on the heavily-timbered land of Section 29, and his sons Phillip, Daniel and George Jr. (after his arrival in 1815) helped him clear this land. His oldest son Jacob stayed in Pennsylvania on his own 100-acre property in Antis Township, next to his father's 116 acres there. After Jacob's untimely death in 1815, leaving ten children ranging in age from 20 down to 3 months, George and Elizabeth established a trust with their 116 acres of land in Antis Township, for the better maintenance, support and livelihood of the grandchildren, the heirs of Jacob Fetter.
...Canton, the county seat of Stark County, consisted of 30 inhabitants in 1815. Alex Hurford, who was born in Canton in 1817, described the early days there in a conversation with Henry Howe in 1846:

..."Before the building of the Ohio canal, the people were wretchedly poor for the want of a market. Within my memory, the farming folks used to start to church Sundays barefoot, carrying their shoes and stockings in a handkerchief until they got to the foot of south hill, near where Aultman & Company's works now are, when they would stop and put them on. At that time wheat brought but 25¢ a bushel and had no outlet except by wagon to Cleveland and Pittsburg.
..."The only things that would bring cash were beeswax and ginseng. Store coffee then cost 50¢ a pound. It could not be bought without ginseng, beeswax or money. Most well-to-do families made it a point to have store coffee on Sunday; on other days used coffee from burnt rye or wheat. My father, about 1823, kept a store on the southeast corner of Market Square. He paid about 25¢ a pound for ginseng. It was cut into, say, about four-inch pieces and strung on strings, like as our grandmothers used to string their apples for drying. The ginseng was sent to Pittsburg in wagons and thence to China... They used it as a substitute for opium and as joss sticks, to burn as incense before their idols.
..."My father was at the beginning, farmer, miller and distiller. Whiskey sold for two cents a dram, or 18¢ a gallon: and everybody drank. in the spring of 1821 or 1822, he loaded two flat-boats with whiskey at Bethlehem in this county, for New Orleans. The river changed its name according to the branches that poured into it. At Bethlehem it was the 'Tuscarawas', lower down 'White Woman', then 'White Woman' was succeeded by 'One Leg', and that went into the 'Muskingum', which in the Indian signifies an 'Elk's Eye', and next came the Ohio, the 'Beautiful river'. This swelled the 'Father of Waters' and so at last, on the bosom of these many waters, father's whiskey got to New Orleans.
..."When the idea of the Ohio canal going through Canton was broached, it met with great opposition from some of the leading men, who fought it away, and it was located eight miles west and made the town of Massillon, and that sunk Canton for 20 years. Among its opponents were three old doctors, who shook their heads, looked wise and said it would increase the ague; almost everybody was then shaking with the ague. Every season seven out of ten had their turn at the shakes... My father claimed the canal would create a current and drain the swamps. When it was finished the sanitary effect of the measure was astonishing. It drained the swamps throughout its course and malaria largely disappeared through its influence.
..."The very first state of the work was beneficial. The canal was principally dug by Ohio farm boys; eldest sons of the farmers who earned from $6 to $10 per month and boarded at home; this with a larger part of them was about the first chance that they ever had to get a whack at any money. And this greatly benefited the farming people; put them in happy smiling frames of mind. Massillon at once sprang into a great wheat market for a large section of country: for Stark, Carroll, Wayne, Holmes and Richland Counties."

...On October 17, 1823 George Fetters sold 80 acres of his Southeast Quarter of Section 29 to his son John. George died without a will in late 1823, at age 75. The "History of Canton and Stark County" published in 1904, reported that George "commanded the high regard of all who knew him".
...Christian Swenk, the administrator of his estate, reported to the court the final settlement that was made:

Sale of Personal property $ 385.12
Amount taken by widow at appraisement 99.19
Amount of debts collected 606.00
Total 1,090.31

...The court ordered the sale of the 160-acre portion (Southwest Quarter, Section 24) of his estate and on March 18, 1826 it was offered for sale at the door of the Stark County Courthouse in Canton. Phillip Fetters purchased it for $314. being the highest and best bidder according to Timothy Reed, Sheriff.
...George Fetters' son John died without a will in 1828, and after a court suit, the 80 acres of "Homestead Farm" were awarded to George Fetters, Jr.

Birth:
(now Berks Co.)

Newspaper:

Public Sale
By virtue of an order from the Court of Common Pleas of Stark County, to me directed, I will offer for sale, at the door of the Court house in Canton, on the 30th day of April inst the follinwing valuable property belonging to the estate of George Fetters, deceased, viz.
All the right, title and interest of the said deceased, in and to the south half of section o 14, in township No 9, of range No 8-situated about 10 miles south of Canton. Thirty-eight acres of which, are to be sold subject to the wido's right of dower. Also, One Hundred and Three Acres of the south east quarter of Section No 29, in township No. 9, of Range No 8-being exclusive of 80 acres off of and extending the whole length of the east side of said quarter, in a long square-Also situated 10 miles from Canton. The whole of which is to be sold subject to the widow's right of dower. Sale to commence aat 10 o'clock, A. M. when the terms will be made known.
Timothy Reed, Sheriff

George married Elizabeth Switzer in 1770 in Pennsylvania, British Colonial America. Elizabeth (daughter of Mathias Switzer and Mary C. Finch) was born in 1746 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; died before 31 Oct 1826 in Stark County, Ohio, United States; was buried before 31 Oct 1826 in East Sparta, Stark County, Ohio, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Census: 1779, Bedford Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States
• Property: 6 Feb 1796, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; Purchase of Fetters Farm
• Census: 1810, Bedford Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States

Family/Spouse: Judith Croyle. Judith was born on 22 Mar 1748; died on 15 Feb 1812; was buried in Feb 1812 in Dutch Corner, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Baptism: 18 May 1755, Berks County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; 12 weeks old; Address:
  Schwarzwald Church

Other Events:

• Land Patent: 29 May 1793, Frankstown Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; Warrant to survey 100/150 acres
• Property: 6 Feb 1796, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; Sale of Fetters Farm
• Property: 1801; 349 acres
• Property: 10 Feb 1810, Randolph Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, United States

Notes:

...Daniel Fetters (Fetter, Feather) was born in Middletown, Pennsylvania in 1760. He was the son of Michael Fetter (1725-1789) and Catharine. in 1776 Michael bought land just west of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania where he built a mill and fort. These were occupied throughout the Revolutionary War. In 1790 Daniel married Susannah Shoup, a daughter of Sebastian Shoup and Maria Margaret Tegarden. During the Revolutionary War there was a blockhouse built on Sebastian's land in Saxton, Pennsylvania.
...In 1801 Daniel bought 349 acres on the southwest branch of the Frankstown Branch of the Juniata River which he sold six years later when the family moved to Ohio. They settled on the N 1/2 of R5.T5.S29 in Randolph Township. Daniel received a patent on the SE 1/4 of Range 5, Township 5, Section 20 on February 10, 1810. The 1820 Census lists Daniel in Randolph Township, Montgomery County and that year he started paying real estate taxes on the SW 1/4 of R5.T6.S21 south of West Milton in Miami County. Daniel made his will on September 18, 1822 in Montgomery County and never updated it. Some grandchildren and Daniel Jr. were not mentioned in it. Susannah died a few months later. 1826 was the first year Daniel paid person property tax in Miami County; 1828 was the last year in Montgomery county. Thus he must have moved to Miami County between 1825 and 1827. He continued to pay real estate taxes in Montgomery County but his son John was probably living on the land. In 1832 he paid taxes on a sawmill, a gristmill and a distillery in Miami County. By 1835 the distillery was dropped but he paid taxes through 1838 for the mills. In 1836 he bought land and a sawmill in Webster on the Stillwater River in Darke County. Later he built a gristmill there. Apparently Daniel died in 1840 before the census was taken. Daniel had acquired considerable property since his will was made and had sold off some of the property mentioned in it. There were a number of Common Pleas Court cases in Darke county to settle his estate. Several US patents of his lands in Montgomery County were not registered until after his death.
...Children born in Pennsylvania were: Elizabeth (Septermber 1, 1791) - September 17, 1878) married Jacob Weybright (1788 - 1865) on august 3, 1812 in Montgomery County; Daniel, Jr. (-c1840) married Anna? Phoebe Pitsenbarger September 25, 1817 in Montgomery County, Ohio; Mary (1794 - October 17, 1853) married Jacob Leasure ( 1788 - October 7, 1863) in Montgomery County, Ohio; and John (1799 - 1856) married Elizabeth Michael (1804-1860) March 10, 1822 in Montgomery County, Ohio. (Source: Lois J. Fair, Tired Iron Club and Miami County Historical and Genealogical Society (Ohio), Miami County Family Histories: Tired Iron Book (Miami County Historical & Genealogical Society Inc., 2006) pg. 49.)

Daniel married Susannah Shoup in 1790. Susannah died about 1822. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Property: 6 Feb 1796, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; Sale of Fetters Farm
• Newspaper: 3 Jun 1831, Canton, Stark County, Ohio, United States; Case concerning the sale of property to Peter Michael; Address:
  Ohio Repository

Family/Spouse: Eve Wareham. Eve was born on 21 Aug 1774 in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, British Colonial America; died in 1851 in Claibourne Township, Union County, Ohio, United States. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events:

• Property: 6 Feb 1796, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; Sale of Fetters Farm
• Census: 1810, Bedford Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania, United States

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

Other Events:

• Guardian: 1789; John Hallam aoppointed as his guardian after the death of his father

Other Events:

• Guardian: 1 Jun 1790, Huntingdon, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; After the death of her father, her mother, Catherine Fetter and her brother, Michael Fetter,; Address:
  Orphans Court

Other Events:

• Guardian: 5 Mar 1790; Michael Fetter appointed guardian of his younger brother Samuel Fetter, after the death of their father Michael Fetter
• Property: 6 Feb 1796, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States; Sale of Fetters Farm

Notes:

Jacob Fetter, farmer; P. O. Bradford. Jacob Fetter, a son of Samuel Fetter, a native of Huntingdon Co., Penn., emigrated to Ohio in the year 1811, and located in Newton Township, Miami Co.; lived there until 1816 ; moved into Newberry Township, and purchased a farm known as the Yount farm. The subject of this sketch was born upon the Yount farm April 13, 1818; his early life was spent in assisting his father upon the farm; he knows something of the hardships that the early pioneers had to endure; he has always lived in the same school district, but not on the same farm; he owns a good farm lying west of the one mentioned, and west of Stillwater. Mr. Fetter has twice been married; first, Dec. 18, 1838, with Miss Maria, a daughter of John Hagan. Mrs. Fetter died May 29, 1848, leaving four children, viz., Nancy, Catharine, Hannah and John H. His second-marriage was celebrated Dec. 19, 1850, with Miss Catharine, a daughter of Jacob Brumbaugh. From this union they had three children-Emma V., Mary F. and Samuel A. M. Mr. Fetter has held several public offices; was Trustee, Land Appraiser and Assessor for several terms each. His father was either the first or second Justice of the Peace of Newberry Township.

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