Samuel Crum

Samuel Crum, born in Huntingdon county, Pa., April 6, 1825, is the son of Frederic and Catherine (Snare) Crum, both Pennsylvanians; the former born in 1791, was the son of a German settler, the latter, daughter of a German settler also. To them nine children were born, eight of whom are still living, namely: Samuel, of Penn township; Daniel, of Huntingdon county, Pa.; Nancy, wife of Byron Haack, of that county; Ellen, Mrs. Joseph T. Fisher, of Johnson county, Mo.; Reuben H., a resident of Pennsylvania; Margaret, Mrs. John Clark, of Huntingdon county, Pa.; George W., also residing there, and Ann, Mrs. John C. Lytle, residing in that county. The father died there in 1876, and the mother in 1877. Both were of the Pennsylvania agricultural class. Samuel Crum in early years was a woodchopper, schoolboy, miller and farmer — about all a pioneer boy could be. In 1848 he married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Henry and Margaret (Wise) Hess, and paternal granddaughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Zimmerman) Hess, Germans. Jacob being born in 1781, died in 1869, and Elizabeth, born in 1789, died in 1859. Her mother was born in 1768, died April 8, 1857, and her father, Henry, born in 1758, died January 27, 1837. After Mr. Crum's marriage he became a farmer, came to this township in 1859, engaged in grain and stock-growing, purchased eighty acres on section 20 in 1869, came to reside on it in 1873, added eighty acres on section 17, erected a fine farm-house, and has resided here down to the present time. Their children are: Margaret, wife of R. S. Snare; Winfield B., married, residing in this township, and John W., a druggist at Castleton. Mr. Crum and his two sons control 263 acres here. He has served as supervisor one year, assessor three years, school director and in minor offices. Both he and wife are members of the Snareville Methodist church. W. B. Crum is the genial clerk of the township school board, and like his father, one of the most popular men in the township. The farms and homes which this family made here are the results of their own labors since 1859. Their reputation rests on industry and integrity. Chauncey W. Davison, who married Eliza E. Wheeler, was born in Wyoming county, Pa., December 12, 1819, son of James and Catherine (Stark) Davison. He moved with his parents to Lorain county, Ohio, in 1834, where he married Miss Wheeler, in 1840. In 1851 they moved to Stark county, Ill., and thence in February, 1875, to Wayne county, Iowa, where they now reside. Archibald Wheeler, born in England, in 1800, emigrated to St. Lawrence county, N. Y., where he married Narcissus Gardner, a native of that county, of Scotch descent. She was living fifteen miles south of Ogdensburg when that settlement was burned by the British in 1812. Wheeler and family moved to Lorain county, Ohio, in 1834, cleared 100 acres, and lived in the log cabin he then built until 1850, when a dwelling house was erected in which they resided until their death a few years ago.