Joseph J. Rohrer Farm

John JBazzard, farmer, sec. 27; P. O., Goshen; was born in jSTorthampton county, Penn., Dec. 15, 1811. His parents, Jacob and Elizabeth Buzzard, were natives also of Pennsylvania. He was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools. In 1850 he came to this county and settled in Harrison tp., where he still resides engaged in fanning and stock-raising. In May, 1838, he was married to Catharine Coffer, by whom he had 4 children; 3 are living. Mrs. B. died, and Mr. B. was again married iu 1847, to Anna Weldy. To them were born 5 children, of whom 4 are living. Mr. B. owns a farm of 240 acres in sec. 27, valued at $65 per acre.

Passage source: History of Elkhart County, Indiana : Together with Sketches of Its Cities ... and Biographies of Representative Citizens : History of Indiana, Embracing Accounts of the Pre-historic Races .., published 1881.

John S. Cripe. - Among the early settlers of this county that are yet living is Mr. John S. Cripe. He was born in Montgomerycounty, 0., April 29, 1829. The same year he was brought by his parencs to this county. They first settled in Elkhart tp. Here, amid the primeval wilderness of nature, he was reared. The Indians were his parents' neighbors. The wild animals were as numerous as the chickens are this day. His educational advantages were no more e.xtended tlian others of the times. The schools in his childhood years were held in the rudest sort of log buildings, wit h slab seats, puncheon floor and a large fire-place. The light that .shone upon their books was received through window lights of greased paper. There were but a few log cabins in Goshen. The roads were similar to the Indian trails; all the land was covered with a dense forest of trees. In 1859 Mr. Cripe moved into Harrison tp., where he owns 213 acres of land, worth $80 per acre. April 15, 1850, he was married to Miss Mary Shively, by whom he has had 11 children; of these, 6 are living, viz.: Isaac, Catharine (now Mrs. Abraham Weaver), Lewis, .John, Mary L. and Amanda E. Mrs. Cripe died March 15. 1873. and Mr. C. again married Jan. 1, 1871, Elizabeth Kensberger, by whom he had 3 children, viz. : Frances, Wm. IT. and Ellen.

Passage source: History of Elkhart County, Indiana : Together with Sketches of Its Cities ... and Biographies of Representative Citizens : History of Indiana, Embracing Accounts of the Pre-historic Races .., published 1881.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Harrison Township - 6,432 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.