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FAMILY HISTORIES

For Surnames N thru P

Nestlerode Family History

Pletcher Family History

Poe Family History

Nestlerode Family History

By Talwin Nestlerode

The additions of surnames began in Northern Italy about 1000 A.D., and spread northward. Most Europeans had surnames by 1500.

The first Nesselrode I found was Berthold, Esquire, the Administrator of Altenberg (12.5E-51N) in 1275. His family resided in Thuringia (a German State) for a long time. Berthold could have been a Thuringian, a Frank, or a Saxon. All were Barbaric Germanic tribes. The Thuringians were the first Germanic tribe civilized by the Romans about 350 A.D. The Franks controlled Thuringia from 531 to 908. During the Franks' Rule, the Thuringians were Christianized by ST. Boniface (a Frank) in the early 720's. In 908, Thuringia was placed under the control of Saxon Dukes. In 1039, the area was ruled by the Royal Saxon Family of Ludowing. The control passed to the Royal Saxon Family of Wettin in 1264.

Other notable Nesselrodes were:

  1. Walter, Administrator of the Saxon Administration of Drefurt in 1338. I believe this to be Erfurt today.
  2. William, received (by marriage) the Lordship of the Stein and Erheshofen, by their death in 1389. He was to devide the control of the Stein, Ehreshofen, and Rhode Branches.
  3. Johann (von), Marshall by heredity, was the Administrative Aide of the Count of Berg in 1466. Johann was of noble birth, with the same name of his ancestral home, by the Wupper, near Solingen.
  4. Baron Bertrand (of the Stein Branch) was Marshall (by heredity) of the Berg Duche. The Berg Duche was established in 1610.
  5. Bertrand's son was Chamberlain and Counselor of the State of the Elector of Cologne, and Governor of the lands of Nest for 58 years. His name could have been Phillip Wilhelm Christopher Von Nesselrode, who was Baron of the Empire 3/7/1653.
  6. Baron Franz Karl Von Nesselrode (1713-1798), a native of Hungary, of the Catholic line became a Count 20/11/1729, following the death of Count Schalt Zu Ehreshofen Wien of 4/9/1705.
  7. Count Wilhelm Nesselrode (1724-1810) of the Orthodox line. I believe this man to be the Wilhelm born in Nesselrode, Germany near Solingen, that became the Ambassador of Russia to Portugal. He was one father of Count Karl Robert (1780-1862), born in Bisbon, and was the Foreign Minister of Russia in the mid 1800's.

I found several references to Nesselrode, Germany-near Solingen. See #3 and #7 above. Today a suburb of Solingen is called Nesselroth. Therefore, I believe the original spelling of our name was Nesselroth, and modernized by our ancestors sometime after 1760. There were other adult males living in the 1760's, by the names of William, Frederick and Charles. I'm sure there were many more male Nesselrodes not mentioned here that would be descendants of Berthold (#1), for there were Nesselrodes and Nesselroths in Austria, Hungary, Holland, and Russia, as well as in other parts of Germany. We could be descendants of any one of them.

J. Christian Nesselroth (1737-1813) sailed from Hamburg, Germany aboard the "Queen of Denmark", and landed in Philadelphia, PA, on Nov. 2, 1752. He signed the passenger list with an X. He is listed as Sardin Christian Nesselroth on his land purchase records in Lancaster County, PA. He married Elizabeth (Kurz). They had three sons, Christian (1762), Israel (1763), and Daniel (1769).

Christian (1762-1813) married Markrat (Bottin), and moved his family to Centre County, PA. about 1801. His first son John (1784-1835) married Mary (Nesselroth), the daughter of Israel. There is a family cemetery located about 1/2 mile northeast of Blanchard, Centre County, PA. On the tombstones, the spellings are: Christian Nestelroth, John Nestleroad, Mary Nestlerode (1785-1863). (Note: See Christian's will on the documents page.)

Israel (1763-1833) married Christine (Klein). He and his descendants remained in the Lancaster, PA. area. All of their spellings are Nestleroth. (Note: See Israel's will on the documents page.)

Daniel (1769-182?) married Cathrine (Gatshall). They and one son (born about 1806 in Cumberland County, PA.) moved to Fairfield County, Perry Township, Ohio in 1820. I was unable to find any record of them after 1820.

In Baptism and marriage records of the Trinity Lutheran Church in Lancaster, PA., the names were Nesselroth or Nestelroth. I found wills of Christian (1835), and Israel (1833), and court records of J. Christian death (1813) intestate.

John (1765) and Christopher (1774) Nesselroad were first located in 1800 (by name) in Brooke County, VA. (now W.VA) There was no record found of their entry into this country, or of them being sons of J. Christian (1737). The only listings of Nestlerodes, of any spelling, in the 1790 census was J. Christian and his three sons, in Lancaster County, PA. It is possible that these two men (I believe them to be brothers) entered the U.S. from Canada, or with the British Military during the Revolution, and accepted the option to remain in the U.S. after the War.

John (1765), wife-Hannah, settled in the Ravenwood area of Mason County, VA. (now Jackson County, W.VA.) about 1802.

Christopher (1774), wife Mary Ann, settled in Olive area of Morgan County, Ohio. Their oldest son John (1806) was born in VA. Christopher was in the Ohio Infantry during the War of 1812. His youngest son- Robert )who was in the Indiana Infantry during the Civil War) claimed his father was born in Germany. I have received reports that his parents were Peter and Christina. (No proof).

I have received many other reports that I have not been able to verify. However, I believe some of our family have been too hasty in trying to relate to Count Karl (1780). We may be related, but not descendants, J. Christian, John, and Christopher were all born before Count Karl. Furthermore Count Karl was a German.

Christian (1762-1835) was a member of the 4th Battalion of the Lancaster Militia. Therefore, his female descendants are eligible to be members of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Henry Nesselrode (1832) and wife-Anna Mary (1852), both born in Germany, entered this country about 1880, and settled in Pope County, Ill. They had 2 sons and 6 Daughters, I have not been able to make contact with any of their descendants after 1900.

The westward movement of the family was to Indiana - 1855, Illinois - 1860, Iowa-1861, Missouri-1870, Kansas - 1876, Oklahoma-1892, and California 1900.

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Pletcher Family History

Switzerland/Germany

The Pletcher family name was common in Schleitheim, in the Canton of Schaffhausen, Switzerland in the 15th century. The Pletchers were nearly all land owners, all were Catholic and they were classed a noble family. The name had various spellings such as Pletscher, Bletscher, Platscher, Ploetscher due to the region the family lived in. Around 1520 to 1530, the Pletcher's broke from the Catholic faith and became Anabaptists or Mennonites.

Since the Church of Switzerland was Catholic, Mennonites were persecuted and sometimes exiled. At the end of the Thirty Years War (1648), many fugitive Mennonites fled Switzerland into the Palatinate region of Germany. Since church records rarely give information about Mennonites, the names were not preserved. Some Pletcher names that we do have record of are:

The Schleitheim Parish register of Schleitheim, Schaffhausen, Switzerland Alex Pletscher, born about 1609, died 29 Oct 1637, married to Verena Meyer Hans Pletscher, born about 1724, married in 1749 to Catherina Rechtold

The Church record of Hilsbach-Weiler, near Sinsheim, year 1664 Alexander Pletscher, legitimate son of Michael Pletscher from Schlatten, near Schaffhausen - The 1664 Church record of Hilsbach-Weiler, near Sinsheim.

Land Records
In 1685, Hans Pletscher, a permanent householder in Buchelhof, between Angelloch and Hilsbach. Rudolph Pletscher, received title on 17 Apr 1715, by inheritance to one-quarter of the farmstead from his father Hans Pletscher, who died in 1704. Samuel and Rudolph Pletscher, brothers of Hans Pletscher. Hans applied for the Gollmar Estate in Mechesheim and his brothers gave him financial support. The Lands Record of the Palatinate on 29 Feb 1685 "...granted for twelve years, to Anabaptist, Hans Pletscher, and his two brothers, the Gollmar Estate in the wine district of Dilsberg.." In 1748, Hans' sons Hans and Samuel inherited the property. In 1750, a distiller, Jacob Pletscher, lived at Mannheim.

The book "Annals of the Swiss and German Pioneer Settlers of Southeastern Pennsylvania" by H. F. Echleman, noted the following Pletcher names in 1731 among the Swiss Mennonite congregations living in the Rhine River Valley in Germany near the present city of Mannheim: Hans Ploetscher and Nic Ploetscher, members of the congregation on the Zimmerhof, one hour (4 miles) from city of Wimpfen on the Necker river to the northwest. Samuel Pleotscher, member of the congregation in Meckersheim, two hours (8 miles) from Neckarsmond, southward. Hans Ploetscher, deacon in Meckersheim where Samuel Pleotscher is a member. Rudolph Ploetscher, member of the congregation in Thernheim, one half hour (2 miles) from Sintzheim, southward.

There are discrepancies in the different versions of the Pletcher Family History. All versions give the mother's name as Mary or Marie and all agree that the father died at sea. However, some versions give the father's name as Martin and others give it as Samuel. It is believed that he was born about 1730 in Switzerland and the family was forced to move into the Alsace region of France, near Muelhausen where he met his wife Marie. She has been listed as being of French birth, born about 1731. They were married in the Alsace region or the German Section lying between the Alsace region and Switzerland. Howard S. Pletcher of Goshen, IN, states that his grandmother said that her grandfather, Jacob Pletcher b. 1790, said his grandparents, the immigrants, had lived near Wiesloch in the present state of Baden in the palatinate of Germany along the Rhine from where they migrated to America. It was probably here that their first son, Samuel, was born 28 Jan 1751. Their second son, Henry, was born in 1756. His exact birth date is unknown and again, there are discrepancies on Henry's place of birth. Some histories say Henry was born in Germany before the family left for America and others state Henry was born at sea on the way to America. The 1880 census was the first census that listed the parents' birthplace. Four of Henry's children (Frederick, Anna, Michael and Rudolph) were still living when this census was taken. Frederick listed "Ocean" as his father's place of birth and the other three listed "Germany". In an interview given by Henry's son, Rudolph, between 1860 and 1880, Rudolph gives Henry's birthplace as near Wiesloch in the present state of Baden West Germany.

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America

In 1740 a government regulation limited the number of Mennonite families in the Palatinate to two hundred. This forced many Mennonites to leave for America. The first known Pletcher to arrive in America was Michael Platscher, who took the oath of Allegiance to the King of England in Philadelphia on 21 Sep 1742. It is not known if this Pletcher was related to our Pletcher family. The Ohio Gen. Society in Mansfield has the following: Michael Pletcher, took oath of allegiance to king of England in Philadelphia in 1743. He had a son, Henry Pletcher, b. 16 Sep 1759 and moved to Loudon Co VA in 1815. He married Dorothea Houpt and moved to Morgan Co OH. His descendants lived in Morgan County and Muskingum County OH. Whether these Pletcher's are any relation to our Pletcher family is unknown. The will of Ulrich Yoder (father-in-law of Samuel Pletcher) has the following "....Also the use and possession of that Plantation which I bought from Michael Pletcher Containing about Seventy two acres for and during the Term and as long She shall remain my widow..." So it appears there was some connection between the families.

Our Pletcher family, Mary and her husband Samuel/Martin Pletcher with their two sons Samuel and Henry, set sail for the new world from the Dutch port of Rotterdam around the year 1756. The father died at sea and the widow Mary arrived with her two small sons at the port of Philadelphia. Since only male heads of families were listed in the ships records during this time, no record exists of the family's arrival in America. It is thought that the family crossed on the ship Snow Chance which arrived in November of 1756. The Snow Chance was the only ship bringing German pioneers to the port of Philadelphia between 1756 and 1761. Immigration to America had come to a halt during this time due to the Seven Years War between England and France.

Mary was in a strange, new land with two small sons and without funds to pay for their passage. Family tradition has it that she advertised for hire in the Philadelphia papers for the payment of charges incurred while on board ship. Frederick Maynard, an uncle of Mary's who owned land on the Conestoga Creek in Lancaster County, took them into his home and Mary worked for him as a housekeeper. Mary Pletscher is listed on the tax records for Conestoga township, Lancaster County in the year 1760. Some time after that, she married Frederick and Samuel and Henry were raised on his farm. After Frederick died, Mary married a man named Schenck. It is unknown when Mary died or where she is buried.

Lancaster County, PA

Samuel and Henry lived on their step-father's farm until they became of age (around 12 - 13) when they were apprenticed out to learn a trade. Samuel was apprenticed to a weaver and Henry to a cobbler. An apprenticeship usually lasted until the apprentice reached the age of 21 years and the apprentice received food and clothing.

When the Revolutionary War began, Henry was 18 years old and he served 1 1/2 years as a cobbler making shoes for the soldiers. He was enrolled as a Private third class, third company, fourth battalion of the Lancaster Co. Militia. The Pennsylvania Archives, Third series, Vol 23, lists Miscellaneous Rolls of Soldiers of the Penna., Line 1777-1780, Page 429: A muster roll of Captain Nathaniel Page's Company of Militia, of Lancaster county, of Colonel Matthias Slough's Battalion, destined for the Camp in the Jersey's, Sept 11, 1776....Privates....Henry Platcher... Samuel was 23 years old when the war started and was already married to Elizabeth Yoder and had sons. There is no record of his service during the war, but according to family tradition, he too volunteered for service. The bible of William Henry Reese (grandson of Ulrich Pletcher) had a note which reads: "Samuel, father of Olie, fought in the American Revolution".

Samuel married Elizabeth Yoder, daughter of Ulrich and Magdalena Yoder, 30 Mar 1771 in Lancaster Co. By 1790 they had moved to Huntingdon County and in 1792 was issued a warrant for a tract of land in Tod Township Huntingdon County containing sixty-two acres and 155.9 perches. The 1790 census for Huntingdon County, Huntingdon Township lists: Samuel Pletcher, 2 males greater than 16, 4 males less than 16 and 4 females. Their children were:

Henry married Catherine Stanaman (or Sternaman), the daughter of Mariah Stanaman, about 1787. The 1790 census listed them in Lancaster Co., Conestoga Township. Catherine died sometime in 1791/2 in Lancaster County. There children were:

Centre County, Pennsylvania

Centre County was created from Huntingdon, Lycoming, Mifflin and Northumberland counties on February 13, 1800. In 1800, Centre county was wilderness with few white people. Treaties from the French and Indian War required that Indians release any claim for this land. Officers of the English army received land grants in payment for their military service. Few of the officers actually lived on the land however. General John P. deHaas owned a section of land south of Bald Eagle Creek with the village of Howard in the southwest corner. This area was originally in Bald Eagle Township, Northumberland County when it was created in 1772. In 1786, Bald Eagle Township was divided and the section with General deHass' land was called Upper Bald Eagle until Mifflin County was created in 1789. Then most of Upper Bald Eagle Township was transferred to Mifflin County. In 1799 Bald Eagle Township, Mifflin County was divided and in 1800 the area with the deHaas survey was transferred from Mifflin County to Centre County as Centre Township. In 1810, Centre Township was divided into Howard Township and Walker Township. In 1839, Clinton County was formed from part of Centre County.

An article about the Schenck Family in Centre County, Pennsylvania in the Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, April 1984, states that many families left Lancaster County for Centre County during the decade of 1790 to 1800. Families mentioned are Schenck, Bechdel, Holter and Pletcher. These families all settled within a five mile-area in Bald Eagle Valley along the Bald Eagle Creek about five miles from the eastern edge of the county.

One of the first families to emigrate to Centre County was the Michael Schenck family. Michael Schenck was married to Magdalena Maynard. It is not known if Magdalena was related to Frederick Maynard, step-father of Henry and Samuel, but on October 31, 1795, Michael sold his farm to Frederick Maynard and left Lancaster County for Centre County. The Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, gives this description of the trip: "Michael, his wife, and their eight children....along with his brother Daniel and his family..wife Susanna and two small children - loaded their belongings onto wagons and traveled the colonial road on the eastern side of the Susquehanna River to the mouth of the Juniata River. Here they crossed the Susquehanna to follow the smaller stream to the area of present-day Water Street. They headed north to Bellefonte and traveled westward through a narrow valley to what is now Howard Township in Centre County. " According to the "Schenck Families", the Pletchers followed Michael and Daniel Schenck to Centre County within three months.

On May 24, 1800, Henry Pletcher bought the eastern portion of the General DeHaas survey. A newspaper article in 1911 stated that Henry was given the land for his service in the Revolution. However, according to Centre County Deed Book A, page, 283, the land was sold to "Henry Pletcher late of Mifflin County" for eight hundred and seventeen pounds six shillings and three pence and contained 363 acres and 44 perches. Henry married Michael Schenck's sister, Anna, in February 1796. They had four sons and two daughters:

Henry is on the 1801 List of Taxable Inhabitants in Centre Township with 150 acres, 2 horses and 4 cows. According to other family histories, Henry built a 2-story log cabin along Lick Run, several hundred yards east of where the main highway (route 220) crossed Lick Run. It was still standing in the early 1950's.

Henry died 14 Nov 1803, 8 months before his daughter Anna was born, after being kicked in the stomach by a colt. After his death, his widow married his nephew, Samuel Pletcher, Jr. Henry, Anna and Samuel Pletcher, Jr were buried on their farm which, in 1904, was a part of the Butler farm near Howard. In the fall of 1904, they were moved to the Schenck Cemetery. In 1967 the Shenck Cemetery was relocated during the construction of Sayers dam. Their graves originally had home-made markers of native mountain stone. In 1911 descendants of Henry Pletcher raised money to place a monument on the grave.

All of Henry's children, except for Jacob A. and Michael, stayed in Centre County. They are buried, along with Henry, in the Schenk Cemetery outside of Howard. Many of Henry's descendants still live in the Howard area.

Samuel moved to McDonald's farm in Lower Bald Eagle Township (east of Beech Creek in the present Clinton County). Samuel Pletcher was listed among the residents of Lower Bald Eagle Township in 1801 and Samuel and William Pletcher as single men. The book 'History of Beech Creek Area' lists Samuel as one of the sawmill operators of Bald Eagle Township from 1801 to 1811. A deed in the Centre County Courthouse, 28 Feb 1810, Samuel Pletcher, Sr of Centre Co, Bald Eagle Township sold 245 acres in Nittany Township Centre County to Jacob Keller for 600 pounds or $400. The deed was signed by Samuel in German.

A log cabin was built by either Samuel or his son William about 1810 on the side road leading from the main highway to the rolling mill of the Howard Iron Works. It was torn down in the 1920's but the stone chimney stood for over 30 years afterward. For a long time it had a date of 1810 painted on it. It is believed that Samuel's wife, Elizabeth, died in Centre County between 1810 and 1820. Of Samuel's children, Samuel II is the only one who remained in Centre County and is buried in the Schenk Cemetery. Samuel's oldest son, David, moved to Westmoreland County in southwestern Pennsylvania and his second son, Ulrich (William) married Barbara Neff and moved to New York sometime after the War of 1812.

Life in Centre County

In Howard Township, the Pletchers intermarried with the Schencks, Holters, Bechdols and other Pletchers. Cousins often married cousins. They handed down the same names from father to son, mother to daughter, through the generations. They very often had nicknames. Ulrich Pletcher was Olie. Anna, daughter of Henry and Anna Schenck Pletcher was Little Aunt Ann. Anna, the wife of Rudolph Pletcher, was Big Aunt Ann. Henry's son, Jacob A., was called Little Yake or Jake, and Samuel's son, Jacob, was called Big Jake. Samuel's son Henry was called Jockey Henry. Women were called by pet names - Magdalena was Mollie, Catherine was Kate, Martha was Mattie and Anna was Nancy.

At first, religious services were held in homes and probably rotated among the families. A meetinghouse was not built until 1812. It was erected on land owned by Jacob and Anna Pletcher about one-half mile east of the town of Howard and seventy-five feet north of the main road leading to Blanchard. Jacob was the son of Henry and Anna was the daughter of Samuel. They married in 1812. Centre County Deed 113-125 made on Aug 13, 1821 and recorded Sep 16, 1912:

<".. BETWEEN Jacob Pletcher of the Township of Howard in the County of Centre and State of Pennsylvania, and Nancy his wife of the one part and Frederick Shank of the Township, County and State aforesaid, of the other part .... for the sum of five dollars....half an acre of land situate in the Township aforesaid on which the Muneess Meeting House is erected (Being part of a larger tract of land granted and conveyed by Jacob Pletcher and Nancy his wife by Indenture under their hands and seal bearing even date herewith to James Butler and which half acre is therein particularly excepted and reserved...) .... for the sole use benefit and behoef of the congregation composed of the Menonite (or Muneess) Society of Christians of which Michael Shank is now the Minister or preacher and on which half acre their church or house of worship is now erected and by them occupied..."

The log meeting house was used by the congregation until 1887 when the last minister, Henry Holter, died. After his death, the meeting house was sold to Rudolph and Leah Pletcher and remodeled into a residence. They lived there until 1913 when it was torn down for the construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The Schenck Family article relates that Samuel Pletcher was one of the organizers of the Mennonite congregation at Howard. Seven ministers are listed: Michael Schenck, Sr., Samuel Pletcher, Daniel Kunes, Frederick Schenck (1771-1847), Michael Schenck, Jr. (1773-1846), John Pletcher (1798-1868), and Henry N. Holter (1827-1887).

Crawford/Richland Counties Ohio

In 1804, Ohio lands were for sale by Congress at $2 per acre for one section of 640 acres. In 1820, Congress passed a law lowering the price of land to $1.25 per acre and permitted the sale of tracts as small as 80 acres. In 1820, Samuel's son Henry and wife, Barbara Leiter Pletcher moved to Richland County Ohio. There are written accounts of their journey. They took wagons across the Allegheny Mountains. At what is now Pittsburgh, they made a raft and floated down the Ohio River. When they landed, they made carts to take their belongings the rest of the way. The wheels of the carts were circles of logs that they had cut and they squealed the rest of the journey. They settled in Richland County Ohio.

In 1821, Samuel sold out of Howard and went to Ohio with his family. He traveled with his daughter Anna and her husband (his nephew) Jacob. Samuel bought two quarter sections and his son-in-law Jacob A. Pletcher bought two quarter sections in Crawford County OH which is just west of Richland County. In the 1850 census, Jacob A. (Henry's son) and Anna (Samuel's daughter) had real estate worth $3000.

Samuel's three younger children also moved to Ohio. His son, Jacob and wife, Barbara Nestlerode Pletcher, moved to Crawford County. In the 1850 census, they are listed next to Jacob A. Samuel's daughter, Elizabeth and her husband David Reed also settled in Crawford County. His daughter, Catherine, and her husband, Christian Nestlerode, settled in Fairfield County, Ohio. Michael, the son of Henry I and Anna, also moved to Ohio. He bought land in Crawford County, but lived in Pickaway County for a while and then moved on to Iowa.

The Mennonite Quarterly Review, April 1944, gives this account: "...in the vicinity of Galion, Ohio, another small Mennonite settlement....extended eastward from a few miles west of Galion in Crawford County to beyond Ontario in Ashland County. Apparently it lay in a north-east-southwest direction for a little over ten miles roughly along what is now U.S. Route 30 South. .... Probably the first Mennonite settler was Samuel Pletcher who left Lancaster County, PA., in 1819, remained in Ashland County one year to raise a crop of wheat because, being well on in years, he could not eat corn bread, and finally located in the Crawford County woods west of Galion in 1820. He died on March 15, 1830, at the age of seventy-nine and was buried on his own farm in the family burying ground now known as the Pletcher cemetery lying about two and one-half miles west of Galion." The 1819 date seems a little early and most sources give the date as 1821 which seems more probable since both Jacob Pletchers were listed in the 1820 Centre County, PA. census.

The Ohio Pletcher's and the Pennsylvania Pletcher's kept in touch. Rudolph Pletcher, son of Henry I and Anna, walked from Pennsylvania to Crawford County OH to visit when he was 25 years old.

Samuel Pletcher I died on March 15, 1830 on the homestead of Jacob A and Anna Pletcher, two and a half miles west of the city of Galion in Crawford County. The farm originally had 154 acres and the land remained in the Pletcher name from Jacob A. to his son Jacob N. to his son Henry W. When Henry W. died in 1933, the farm was sold to others. The barn, with hand pegs throughout, still stands. Samuel I, Jacob A and his wife Anna, along with other family members, are buried in the Pletcher Cemetery located on the farm.

Wood County, Ohio

Jacob the son of Henry and Barbara Lieter Pletcher and Elizabeth the daughter of Jacob and Barbara Nestlerode Pletcher married in 1834 and moved to Wood County, OH. The Mennonite Quarterly Review, Apr 1944, gives this account of the Wood County settlement: "another prominent family was the Pletchers. Jacob and Elizabeth Pletcher at one time owned about two hundred acres in the northwest corner of Perry Township, that is in Section Six where the cemetery is located. They were living in Richland County, Ohio, when they purchased about 100 acres in the northwest quarter of Section Six of Perry Township on May 6, 1841 and probably moved to Wood County soon after. .... Henry Pletcher, son of Jacob and Elizabeth Pletcher, was ordained to the ministry and served the Wood County Mennonite congregation. He lived in Bloom Township until he moved to Elkhart County, IN"

Jacob died in Wood County and Elizabeth moved along with some of her children to Indiana, but there are still descendants of Jacob and Elizabeth in Wood and Seneca Counties.

Indiana

The Pletcher's who migrated to Indiana settled in Elkhart, St Joseph, Kosciusko and Whitley Counties. The first Pletcher who moved to Indiana was John and Elizabeth (Mowery) Pletcher (grandson of Samuel and Elizabeth Yoder Pletcher). They settled near Columbia City in Whitley County. Jacob and Barbara (Nestlerode) Pletcher along with most of their children came to Elkhart County around 1852.

In 1882, most of the Wood County Pletchers followed. According to the Mennonite Quarterly, two Elkhart County Bishops, Jacob Wisler and John F. Funk divided on issues in 1871. Most of the Northern Ohio Mennonite churches followed Wisler. Their group was called the Wislers and the other the Funks. They took issue with Henry Pletcher's preaching in English and the congregation also took a stand against holding evening services. So, most of the Pletcher's left for Indiana. Preacher Henry Pletcher and his family followed in 1882. He became one of the ministers of the Yellow Creek congregation in Elkhart County. He was violently opposed to the use of tobacco and had difficulty working with the Elkhart County ministers. Henry was "silenced" and John F. Funk charged that he "talked too much". After he was silenced, he continued his connection with the Mennonite Church and donated the land on which the Salem Mennonite church stands.

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Poe Family History

The earliest known Poe ancester is Rebecca Poe. She was born in Ohio about 1813. She married John Canaan 6 Feb 1836 in Hardin County Ohio.

The family moved to LaPorte County, IN sometime around 1850 and eventually settled in Starke County, IN.

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