John Cears Kear Family
A History of the John Cears/Kear family
About Van Wert
Early History, page 3
It
was a very pioneer setting
that the Kear family entered when it moved into the Town of Van Wert in
1843. Catharine (Frysinger) Kear recalled to historians that the
streets were still being cleared for use, and that except for one frame
house, the approximately 12 houses were log cabins [note
1].
An
1886
Map of Van Wert shows three Kear roads adjacent to each other in the
northwest section known unofficially as "Keartown." Only the Main
east and west road at the northern part remains as Kear Road.
The
other two were renamed to Shaffer Street [note
2] and
Allingham Street.
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William
Reed Kear, brother of Thomas
Reed Kear,
contributed to the Town of Van
Wert by serving as one of its first Council members. He was elected as
one of five Trustees in the first election held on 13 May 1848, [note 3]
After
taking the oath of office on 16
May 1848, he attended the first Meeting of the Council on 18 May 1848 [note 4].
In
May 1853 the Council contracted
with and paid seven dollars to Thomas R.
Kear to set stakes in
preparation for grading the streets, and building board sidewalks and
street crossings [note
5].
According
to the 1980
census, Van
Wert County has a population of 300,458, and 11,035 live in the Town of
Van Wert. The county
has over 513 Miles of roads, the townships more than 276 Miles, and the
Town of Van Wert has 46 Miles of roads [note
6]. Although
Van Wert is a small town, it is far advanced from
the one in which the Kear families took roots in Ohio.
See
early picture of
central
Van Wert.
Notes:
1. Records of the Town of Van Wert, Book 1st, p. 2. [ Return to text]
2. Plat Book 1, Van Wert County, Ohio, pp. 106-7, J.J. Kear's Addition establishes J.J. Kear Road, now Shaffer Street. [Return to text]
3. History of
Van Wert and Mercer Counties,
Ohio,
(Wapakoneta, 0.: (R. Sutton & Co., 1882),
"Biographies of Van Wert", p. 166.
4. Ibid. pp. 4-6.
5. Ibid, pp. 51 & 53.
6. Road Map, County, Engineers' Office, Van Wert County.
Copyright
Information on this site related to the Kear family is from The John Cears Kear Family compiled, written and edited by Donald L. Kear, copyright © 1984. Copyright © 2000 - 2006 by Donald L. Kear. All rights reserved. Portions of the pages on this site may be reproduced for nonprofit use only. Credit shall be given to the source.