In the book's own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
Born 1812
From History of Morrow County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio ... a history of Morrow County ... biographical sketches, portraits of some of the early settlers and prominent men, (1880)
ANSON CRAVEN, farmer; P. O., Woodview; son of Beckley W. and Elizabeth (Balse) Craven; was born in April, 1812, in Washington Co., Penn. The family came to Ohio when he was only two years old, and lived in Eastern Ohio some eight years, when they settled on the “ school section.” Anson was about ten years old, and the family being in somewhat limited circumstances, his labor was required at home, so he had only about four months schooling in all; he worked by the month for John Shauck in the saw-mill for some time; he chopped in the “beech woods,” removing all the timber at $4 per acre; in this way, he purchased forty acres on the school section, besides caring for and supporting his aged parents until their death; his present farm embraces eighty acres of good land, the fruit of his own labor and manage merit; when he was twenty-four — just in the prime of manhood — he cut a deep gash in his knee-joint, which stiffened it and made him a cripple for life; he now lives on the old homestead with three of his sisters, a worthy example of sturdy, honest, self-made manhood.
As printed in History of Morrow County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio ... a history of Morrow County ... biographical sketches, portraits of some of the early settlers and prominent men, (1880). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
The printed record stops around 1880. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.