John Duer
birth: About 1801 in Pennsylvania to Thomas and Hannah Byrd Duer
death: 25 February 1885 in Adams, Indiana
burial: Kessler Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer, Ohio

marriage: 29 July 1827 in Trumbull, Ohio
Mary Jane Morrison
birth: 29 June 1804 in Pennsylvania to John and Elenor Jackson Morrison
death: Likely 10 July 1864 in Mercer, Ohio
burial: Kessler Cemetery, Chattanooga, Mercer, Ohio

Children of Mary Jane Morrison and John Duer:

• From 1st marriage:
• William Duer (1828-After 14 March 1861)
• Thomas Duer (Abt 1829-Bef 1860)
• Baby Daughter Duer (Abt 1830-Bef 1840)
• Maria Duer (1833-1913) m. Henry John Kuhn
• Mary Ann Duer (1835-1909) m. 1st James Furman m. 2nd John L. Ceraldo
• John B. Duer (1836-1916) m. 1st Keziah Wright m. 2nd Carolina Kuhn
• Prosser Duer (1839-1863)
• Sarah Jane Duer (1844-1920) m. Philip Kuhn
• Mark Duer (1846-Bef 1860)
• James William Duer (1848-1922) m. Ida Bell Urick
• Angeline C. Duer (1853-1933) m. Ambrose Durbin
• From 2nd marriage:
• Charles Edward Duer (1866-1920) m. Almeda F. Buckmaster
• Lucinda Ellen Duer (Abt 1868-1920) m. 1st Ephriam J. Ripple m. 2nd Mr. Miller m. 3rd Benjamin M. Randall

Ancestor here lived in:

Adams County, Indiana

Other Information:

John Duer, oldest of eight children of Thomas and Hannah Byrd Duer, was born about 1801 in Pennsylvania. Although some family trees provide a marriage year of 1797 for his parents, no record has been found. Originally from Sussex, Sussex, New Jersey, the Duers had gone west to Wheeling West Virginia by 1792. After conflicts with the Mingo, Shawnee, and Delaware tribes, the land was sold and the family moved to Lower Makefield, Bucks, Pennsylvania where they are found in 1800. John was likely named for his grandfather who resided close to the family until his death. The Duers were known as early settlers in Trumbull County, Ohio, being shown on the tax rolls in 1807. There are no records of John’s early years; it is likely he was educated at home as there were no schools in the wilderness where his family settled. The family was staunch Presbyterians; John’s father was buried in the Price Mills Cemetery on church grounds in Pricetown, Trumbull, Ohio and his grandfather was buried in Covenanter Cemtery in Jackson, Mahoning, Ohio. No record has been found showing John became a member of a church in adulthood. By 1820, the area the family lived in had become known as Hubbard and John is likely one of the tick marks on his father’s census line. John married neighbor Jane Morrison on 29 July 1827 in Trumbull, Ohio. Like his father and grandfather, he became a farmer. He may be the John Duer who purchased a land grant on 2 July 1831 in Miami County, Ohio. The family is found in Killbuck, Holmes, Ohio in 1840. On 29 September 1841 John purchased land from John and Mary Ann Fry there, recording the deed on 29 August 1844. John sold the land on 7 April 1853 to John More and purchased another property in Holmes County, Ohio on 27 April 1854 from Lewis Donald. In 1856 he sold that property to Yates Leonard.
On 10 Mary 1847 John Duer took John Geague to court for trespassing on his land and requested the court eject Geague. Evidentally, Geague, who had rented land for planting, planted on John’s land in error, The court agreed after several continuations. It is not known when the family relocated to Mercer County, Ohio on 20 November 1856, Jane sold property she owned in Millersburg, Holmes, Ohio stating she was a resident of Holmes, Ohio. By 1860 the family was together in Mercer County, Ohio. On 28 June 1860, John purchased property from the estate of John Tressler through administrator Benjamin Shafer. At the time of the purchase, he was living next-door to his married daughter, Maria, in Mercer County. On 23 June 1862, John purchased additional land from David Tressler’s estate in Adams County, Indiana. On 12 May 1863 John took Ethan A Babcock to court in Mercer County, requesting Babcock be evicted from John’s 40 acre property located in the north east quarter of the south west quarter of section 22, township 5 south range for failure to pay the mortgage. The court sided with John. Probably in July 1864, Jane died. John had three remaining children in his household. He married again widow Margaret Ann Martz Searight on 11 December 1864 in Mercer, Ohio. Margaret had a neighboring farm in Adams, Indiana. John moved permanently to his farm in Adams where their two children were born. In 1870, John is shown living with his second wife, his step-daughter, his two children from his second marriage and a son from his first marriage in Jefferson, Adams, Indiana. John continued to be a farmer. In 1880, John, Margaret, and his two children from his second marriage continued to reside in Jefferon, Adams, Indiana where he remained a farmer at age 78. John died on 25 February 1885 in Adams, Indiana where his will was probated. He bequeathed all his personal possessions and most of his real estate to his wife. He requested his daughter Angeline, from his first marriage, pay his son Charles, from his second marriage, $50.00 of the property she had received. His daughter Lucinda, from his second marriage, was also ordered to pay son Charles $50.00 from real estate she had received. John noted that if Margaret predeceased him the real estate given to her should be divided between Lucinda and Angeline. No mention of any of his other children from his first marriage was made. At the time of his death, his first marriage children John B, Sarah, and James WIlliam all resided near him in Adams, Indiana. John is buried in Kessler Cemetery, Chattanooga, Ohio. His tombstone is unreadable.

There is a discrepancy with the first wife’s death date and John’s second marriage. It is likely that the year on Jane’s tombstone,1866, is in error as John had remarried in December 1864. No divorce record has been found in Ohio or Indiana for John and Jane. John was not a polygamist. Both wives’ tombstones are in Kessler Cemetery, Chattanooga, Ohio and state they are the wife of John Duer. Likely the first wife died in 1864, not 1866. The family was experiencing extreme stress at the time of Jane’s death. There oldest son had been placed in the Northern Ohio Lunatic Asylum in 1852 where he remained. Besides losing a daughter, two sons (Thomas and Mark) had likely died by 1860. Daughter Mary Ann was engaged in a bastardly court claim against her brother-in-law’s brother, Adam Kuhn. Son John B.’s first wife died in 1861. Son Prosser died in the Civil War at Stone’s River, Tennessee in 1863. His daughter Maria’s husband was also fighting in the Civil War, leaving her single with three small children to support. These stressors likely caused the family to provide incorrect tombstone information.

Submitted by:
Lori Samuelson
Email: genealogyatheart@gmail.com