John Meredith

As printed in 1880

JOHN MEREDITH, farmer and stock-raiser; P. O. Chesterville; was born Dec. 1, 1804, in Baltimore, Md.; his father, William, was born in England, and came to Baltimore when 29 years old; his mother, Mary Farmer, was also born in England, and came to America about the same time. They were married in Baltimore, and lived there about three years, going from there to Belmont Co., Ohio, and one rear later came to Licking Co., where they bought 100 acres of land,

, which they partly cleared, and in 1814 sold the same for $700, and bought 100 acres in Chester Tp., of Miller & May, where they settled and lived until death. They possessed 150 acres at their death, which became the property of their ten children — John, Nancy, William, James, Thomas, Mary, Sarah, Charles, Robert and Betsy. Mr. Meredith was married in 1829, to Jane, a daughter of John D. and Lena (Davis) Thomas; her parents were born in Wales, and came to Pennsylvania — the father when 17 and the mother when 14. They married in Pennsylvania, and came to Licking Co., this State, in 1809 or 1810, where they rented for about ten years, and came then to Morrow Co. and purchased the 100 acres now owned by Isaac Bowen. The father here died at the age of sixty-two. They had ten children— (infant, deceased), Jane, David, Daniel, Mary, John, Zachariah, Ann, Eliza and Benjamin. Her father was a Baptist minister for over twenty years, of which denomination her mother was a long and faithful member. Mrs. Meredith was born in 1808, in Pennsylvania; she had but little schooling; when they began farming, Mr. Meredith turned the soil with the wooden moldboard, and was perhaps hardly contented to give it up for the more modern improvement; in 1854 he began raising short-horned Durham cattle, and has continued the same ever since, and has been one of the most successful stock-breeders of the State; he has raised several cows which he has sold for $200 each; this is the highest price ever paid for any cow in the county. Perhaps no one is more attentive to his stock than he. This strict attention has won for him praiseworthy success. They have had three children — (infant, deceased), Mary, died when eleven years old; Zachariah, born 1835, and worked at home with his father until he married which was in 1865, to Nancy L. Martin. They are now living in Johnson Co., Kansas, where he has been in the hardware business, and was one term in the State Legislature of Kansas; while here he was captain of Company F., 136 O. N. G., and was called out. Mr. and Mrs. Meredith have been members of the Old School Baptist church for many years, in which they have taken great comfort. He votes the Democratic ticket.

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.