Virtual Hike to Clay Township, Ohio

Posted on July 22, 2023 by vanbraman

The next destination on my Virtual Hike was Clay Township, Ohio.

The previous destination on my virtual hike was Scioto Township, Ohio

Clay Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, Dayton, Leeper, ThomasYou can see here that Clay Township is just northwest of Dayton.

Clay Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, Dayton, Leeper, ThomasThe route from Scioto followed two lane highways with fields along the side.

Clay Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, Dayton, Leeper, ThomasThere were some more populated areas, especially just above Dayton, but mostly it was through rural areas.

Clay Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, Dayton, Leeper, ThomasClay Township is in Montgomery County, Ohio and one of the small towns in the township is Phillipsburg. Some of my Thomas ancestors lived to the west of this small town. The image above is of the Phillipsburg Christian Cemetery which was by what was the original Phillipsburg Christian Church. Some of the members of the Thomas family are buried in the cemetery.

The Phillipsburg Christian Church was organized in 1842 by Elisha Ashby and Elijah Williamson. Today the building above houses a Baptist church. This building was a second building which was built in the 1870’s.

My 4th Great Grandmother’s nephew Caleb Thomas helped build the current building, and was a member of the Christian Church. When he was a young man he had lived near his uncle Absalom Leeper in Iowa who was one of the first Restoration Movement preachers in Iowa.

Clay Township, Montgomery County, Ohio, Dayton, Leeper, ThomasHere is a field that is near where the Thomas family lived in Clay Township.

My 4th Great Grandfather Absalom Leeper married Mary Elizabeth Thomas there in 1823. The Thomas family were Quakers, and had come from South Carolina to the area. Absalom was born in Pennsylvania and had lived in Osnaburg, Ohio.

Shortly after 1830 they moved to South Bend, Indiana for a short time before continuing on to Iowa in 1836.

In 1836 Absolom Leeper helped organize the Pleasant Hill Church of Christ near Washington, Iowa. He was the preacher there for many years. Today the congregation is known as the Pleasant Hill Christian Church and is the oldest existing Restoration Movement Congregation in Iowa.

My next few stops will have family connections. I have been working on the route so that I can include as many family locations as possible along the way. Of course, I am also finding new research opportunities as I go and am learning more about migration routes as the frontier pressed further west.

Steven

Images in this post are from Google Maps and Street View

WWRI – Written With Real Intelligence

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Jury Duty Day

Posted on July 21, 2023 by vanbraman

Today I had to go to the courthouse for jury duty.

This meant getting up very early as I had a long drive to the county seat.

stockkton, court house, jury duty, library, Hotel StocktonThis was my first time to have jury duty in the new court house.

stockkton, court house, jury duty, library, Hotel StocktonThe new court house is 13 stories high and looks really nice. The old court house was a smaller building and not very pretty.

stockkton, court house, jury duty, library, Hotel StocktonIn the old court house the jury room was in the basement, but in the new court house the jury room was on the 12th floor and had a terrace on which you could enjoy great views of the surrounding area.

stockkton, court house, jury duty, library, Hotel StocktonIt was interesting to look down on the historic Hotel Stockton and see the layout of the roof.

I arrived before the stipulated time of 8:00 and was told that we would start at 8:45. It was a good thing I brought a book.

Finally we got started and eventually a judge came and told us about his upcoming trial. The trial is next week starting on Tuesday, which unfortunately was a big conflict for me. I have a course with International students next week, including one from an island in the Indian Ocean, who was already on the way to San Francisco.

The judge reviewed hardship cases while we were still in the jury room. There was a long line, so I remained seated until the line was down to less than a handful of people. It was interesting to hear all the reasons for people having a hardship. There were the usual cases of not being paid for jury duty by their employer, full time students, sick family members, caretakers, having to take care of children, etc… With few exceptions all were excused, and those exceptions were rescheduled.

I made my case to the judge and was excused from service. It would have been an interesting experience to serve on a jury again, so I was a bit disappointed that it was next week. Why couldn’t it have been the following week? I am now exempt from jury duty until 2025.

stockkton, court house, jury duty, library, Hotel StocktonSince it was just mid morning I decided to walk to the nearby main branch of our library system. I did a bit of research in the local history section and found a good source for something I am working on.

I then fought traffic all the way back home. Something was slowing things down.

Now to mentally prepare for my course next week.

Steven

 

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