It's Time for a church - 1853

The families living near Nine Mile are prospering. They are settling on the land, growing crops and families. James and Susannah Smith have added two children to their family, John Francis in 1849 and Susanna M in 1852 while two of the oldest daughter would marry and leave home to begin their own families. In 1851, their daughter Margaret became the 2nd Wife of Benjamin Davis, a family friend who came to Fort Wayne from Darke County with the Smith’s, the Miller’s and the Overly’s. Their 2nd daughter Mary Ann married Jonathan Kimble in 1853. Several of the children of John and Hannah Miller’s children have married and began their families too. Charles married to Sarah Dilley and they have 2 children, George and Hannah Jane. Gabriel had married Anna in Ohio prior to leaving for Indiana and Catherine married John W. Maddux. Growing families need a church to assist them in raising their children.

The following is taken from the historical records from The Nine Mile United Methodist church which has a flourish congregation to this day.

James Smith was one of sixteen founding member of the United Brethren Evangelical Church in Nine Mile, Indiana in 1853. The church is presently known as Nine Mile United Methodist Church. Interesting details emerge about James Smith and other founding members in a historical overview written for the churches 100th anniversary which reads as follows: “THE HISTORY OF THE NINE MILE Evangelical U. B. CHURCH” This church was organized at the home of John Miller by Rev. Casey with 16 charter members. Daniel and Lucy Ann Buskirk, sold one acre of ground for $ 10.00 to the trustees of the United Brethren Church, who were Gabriel Miller, Benjamin C. Davis, James Smith, Thomas Overly and Charles Miller, on January 3, 1853. For a period of five years, the meetings were held at the home of the John and Hannah Miller and at the homes of other church members, but in 1859, they erected a log church on the present grounds in section 7, Pleasant Township.”

Rev. P. Landen was then the pastor and dedicated the church. The membership continued to increase but the little log church was still their place of worship until 1868. In that year a frame building was erected. The new place of worship was called "Liberty Chapel". For a few years the church had been served through the Ossian circuit, but in 1869 it was changed to the Zanesville circuit.

In 1879 the 27th annual session of the Auglaize Conference, of which this church was a member, was held at the Liberty Chapel Church. In 1891 Liberty was again placed in the Ossian Circuit which included Ossian, Bethel, Zanesville, Prairie Grove and Liberty Chapel It remained with Ossian until 1906 when it was changed back to the Zanesville circuit along with Bethel.

As it would turn out, our Smith family would play a large role in the beginning of this church.  All the families listed in the historical doument are related to our Smith's in one way or another.  My husband and I visited it in 2003 on the 150th Anniversary.  I am sure that the congregation must have thought I was nuts because I had tears rolling down my face for most of the service.  I was very moved to be able to sit in a church which had such a rich connection to my family history.  Later the congregation would learn that I was the Great, Great, Great Granddaughter of James Smith one of the 16 founding members of the Nine Mile United Methodist Church.  My Grandfather, Rev. Everett A. Smith, himself a Methodist Minister, would have been proud to have known that his family , our family, played such a large role in this church.

Branching out from here.....

It’s 1850 in Pleasant township, Allen County, Indiana  in a small town called Nine Nile.  It’s nine miles from Fort Wayne so what else would you call it? There a Smith Family who lives there and they have 10 children. They came from Darke County, Ohio a few years back along with other Ohio families.  They traveled with the Millers, John, Hannah (Smith) and their children, the Davis', Benjamin C, Letishia and their children and the Overly's, Thomas, Emeline and their children. It was a hard trip in wagons to cover the 80 distance miles to get here but James and Susannah Smith have been married for twenty years now.  They have known hardship before and knew that they would experience it again.  It is a part of living in this time and place. Susanna was the daughter of Martin and Polly Overly of Darke County Ohio when they married on December 9, 1830.  She is the sister to Thomas Overly.  James Smith and Hannah (Smith) Miller are siblings too.

Much has changed in those twenty years since the Smith's were married.  Many people were settling in Ohio and it was getting hard to find a place where you belonged.  Land was being gobbled up and there were not too many opportunities left.  So families were moving further west. Now they live on a plot of land that they are improving. It is in Pleasant Township, in Allen County in the state of Indiana. They must remove the trees and clear fields so they can grow crops on the land. In time the government will make it their land. It is hard work but there will be a reward in the end. Susanna’s brother Thomas and his wife and their family live with the Smiths as do James’s nephew Charles and his new wife Sarah (Dilley).  All the men and family members who are able, work hard to clear the land and get the first crop in with hopes of bright new beginnings.

James and Susanna would have their first child in 1831 in Ohio, her name is Margaret. Then Mary Ann came in 1833, Sarah Elizabeth in 1834 who was followed by William in 1835 and Branson in 1838. They finally had two sons! Branson would be followed by Charles in 1840 and by a daughter named Kisiah in 1842. The next child born would be James W. Smith in 1843. He would be the last of the children born in Darke County Ohio. Between 1843 and 1847 the Smith family left Ohio and settled in Nine Mile, Indiana. Joseph J Smith would be the first Smith child was born in 1847 in Indiana. The next child born in 1849 was John F. Smith.

Listed is the 1850 Federal Census for the state of Indiana, Allen County, Pleasant Township. The last Family listed on this page is James Smith and the remaining Smith children are on the next page.

James, Joseph and John Francis are listed on the top of the next page. The family listed in the Census following James and Susanna is James’s nephew Charles Miller and his new bride, Sarah. The next family is Thomas and Emeline Overly and their children. Thomas is Susannah Smith’s brother.


The time has come for us to give "Thanks".  To Unite as a family and show God how grateful we are for all the blessing that he has bestowed on us.

….and a visit with a local historian…

The road trip continues ….and a visit with a local historian…

From the cemetery at Nine mile, I would travel south three miles or so looking for the Hoverstock, Cemetery at Zanesville, Indiana. I noticed that there was a man smoking out in front of a small local market. Since I did not have a map and I was quickly running out of time, I decided I would ask for directions to the cemetery. I spoke to the butcher and he explained that Hoverstock was just down the road a half a mile or so. He said that the oldest graves would be on the east side of the road and the main cemetery is now on the west side. He told me that I should stop to see the local town historian who lived in the house at the end of the street. Her name was Melba. I thought to myself that would visit her after going to the cemetery IF I had time. I was able to locate Oella Smith’s parent’s graves, Walter and Mary Denney. I also located the graves of Cora Crites’ Grandparents, Jesse and Elizabeth (Meyer) Crites but not Cora parents, John and Emma (McGoogan) Crites. I found other McGoogan graves and wonder if they were related.

After leaving the cemetery, I decided that I would visit Melba Edwards but I would need to keep it short. So I located the house. She lived in an old home which I would later learn was originally her Grandfather home, it reminded me of my house in Fox River Grove which was built in 1902. It had an old fashion doorbell which I rang. As I waited I thought, “This is crazy you are just dropping in on the woman. You don’t know her from Adam.” She was a round faced woman with a colorful character. She greeted me warmly as if she had known me for ever and had expected me to visit her that day. As you walked into her home it was like walking back in time. It was a bit dark at first but once your eyes adjusted it became obvious that the home was full of the all the original furniture and much, much more. I would learn that her Grandfather had been the local doctor in the area between 1890 until around 1940. She was the local historian. I explained that the man down the street had insisted that I stop by and that I hoped I was not interrupting her. She said “Of course you are not, dear…” My time with Melba became the fastest two hours of my life.

This woman lived and breathed the history of Zanesville, Indiana and the neighboring communities. She has the medical ledgers of her Grandfather’s practice and other doctor’s records from in the area. She was able to provide me with a peek into the medical history of my GG Grandparents, John and Emma Crites as well as some of the Denney family members. Grandma Emma was very sick for several years in the late 1890’s while we could not know for sure what she was sick from she had accumulated some large bills and the Dr visited her everyday for several weeks with what appeared to have been rebounds of the same illness which happened several times over the course of many years. Grandpa John would end up with a bill of over 57.00 which was a lot when the cost of having a baby was 50 cents and an Office call or home visit was 5 cents. Grandpa John spent a long time paying off Emma’s medical bill by providing cords of wood to the DR, Melba’s Grandfather and some of his patients and family members. He also fixed a roof and did some general repairs for him on a house that he owned that a relative lived in when ever the Dr needed them. It is at this point in these two hours when a close loving bond formed for me with my GG Grandparents. I saw the hard working Americans that I came from and I was overwhelmed.

Melba had book cases full of old books and ledgers. She had the ledger for the local mercantile who showed that Grandpa John has a sweet tooth and Emma sewed frequently. She made the dusty old documents come to life reviling the sweet characters who were my GG Grandparents. I could have stayed in her house for days learning all I could about these people but I had a small tiny baby waiting to meet me too so I had to leave. Oh was I ever late, I had figured that I had about three or four hours that I could spend in the area before I needed to get on the road again… I had been there almost six hours. I called Sue, my sister to let her know that I was OK and on the road again but I would be late.

I got to meet several people that wonderful fall day. A brand new tiny baby, named Elizabeth and my elderly GG Grandparents who were long gone from this world but who had waited a long time for me to discover them….and a local historian who is passionate about one small town in Indiana.