One Township's Yesterday
The Culver Citizen
By Edwin R Corwin
A Bicentennial Project Reproduction of the Union Township’s Yester Years by Culver Tri Kappa

Excerpt pertaining to Burkett and Overmyer Families
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Only a short distance away from the place of settlement of the York family in the Burr Oak neighborhood, the Burketts made a beginning in Union Township. The Burketts came earlier than the Yorks, but the years that intervened between the arrival of the one and the other of these families were very few indeed. It was about seventy-five years ago, or around 1860, that Henry Burkett brought his family on from Ohio and settled near Burr Oak. From Fremont, Ohio, they came: Henry and his wife, whose maiden name had been Katherine Houts, and their nine children.

Of unusual interest is the fact that, of these nine Burkett children, all the boys married Overmyer girls, and all the girls except one married Overmyer boys. The marriage record runs thus: Levi married Agnes Overmyer; George married, the first time Matilda Baker, and the second time, Rachel Overmyer; Ephraim married Amanda Overmyer; Dan married Rachel Overmyer and died in Pulaski County when still a young man, then George married the widow after Dan’s death; William married Martha Jane Overmyer; Susanna married Frank Overmyer; Mary married Lucas Overmyer; Rebecca married Michael Overmyer; and Lucinda (to be different) married John Working. Was there ever tow families more consistently joined?

The oldest son of Levi Burkett still living is Henry Burkett of Culver, who was eighty years of age on January 30, 1935. Amanda, the wife of Philip Sickman, was a daughter of Levi Burkett. Lucas a bachelor son of Levi Burkett is living with Pete Doll near Burr Oak.

Ulysses S. Burkett, a resident of Culver, is a son of George. He was born November 26, 1865, just after the close of the Civil War.

The family of Ephraim Burkett is mostly gone now. Those remaining live in the vicinity of Richland Center.

William Burkett had four boys. Two of them, Isaah and James are in Culver now, while the other two, Wesley and Elmer, reside near Burkett Station, south-east of Argos.

Susanna, the wife of Franklin Overmyer, was born near Lindsey, Sandusky County, Ohio, October 18, 1838, and was married in 1858, She was Franklin Overmyer’s first wife. With her husband, she left the place of her birth in March 1859, settling at Kewanna in Fulton County. After two years’ residence there, they came up to this section, which excepting for a period of two years preceding 1863 in Stark County, continued to be her home. Susanna was a member of the Evangelical Church and, later in life, the United Brethren Church. In the summer of 1903 she went West with her husband to attend the National G.A.R. encampment, and it was during this trip that she died, at Los Angeles, California, August 22, 1903, at the age of sixty-four years. She was buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery. Ten sons and one daughter survived her. Another daughter, aged four, preceded her in death.

From Ohio also came Margaret Burkett Wolf, who was not exactly of the immediate family of Henry Burkett, the Burr Oak settler, but who was closely related. Margaret Burkett, the wife of Gideon Wolf, was born in Perry County, Ohio, October 5, 1827. She was married in 1849 and she and her husband established their home, at the first, in Sandusky, Ohio. In this home were born three of their children. They removed to Rochester, Indiana from Sandusky in 1853, and resided there nearly two years. Subsequently, they came to the vicinity of Leiters Ford to live. This was the old homestead and in it were born them a majority of their children. Gideon Wolf was a veterinarian. He passed away, February 11, 1885, on the sixty-first anniversary of his birth. His wife survived him eighteen years. Her death occurred May 23, 1903, at which time she was seventy-five.

Gideon and Margaret Wolf were the parents of nine children: here named in order of their birth: Delilah Ellen Phillips, Katherine Edwards, Daniel Wolf, Susanna Hickman, Fernando Wolf, John Wolf, Samantha Benner, Laura E. Gerard, and Timothy Wolf. Katherine Edwards, John and Timothy are now living in Culver. Daniel who is deceased, was a well known school teacher of this part of the country. He was engaged in teaching a long time. Some thirty years ago he taught at the Hibbard School.

The old family home of the Wolfs in Culver was at the lakeside, very close to the water, on what used to be known as Wolf Island. The “island” which today is an island no longer, was at the east end of Mill Street. The grove there used to be frequently the scene of picnics.

The Burketts owned considerable land in the seventies. The greater part of it was in the Burr Oak region. West of Burr Oak was the Henry Burkett homestead property of close to 162 acres. West of it, M. Burkett had 37 acres. Below Houghton’s and Moore’s ponds, G.M. Burkett (probably Guy) had 42.35 acres. On the Starke County line, northwest of these ponds, H. Burkett owned 70.30 acres. George H. Burkett’s eighty acres were southeast of the Sickman School.

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Henry Sickman’s son Phillip, is living at the age of eighty. He was born February 25, 1855, and came up to Union Township with the family when he was fourteen years old. (Phillip’s mother was Christina Tawney).

He now lives with his son-in-law, Pete Doll, on the old home place. Phillip married Amanda Burkett, daughter of Levi Burkett. She died in 1929, and was buried in the McElrath Cemetery. Her four girls survived her. All four are living: Mrs. Forrest Geiselman of Culver; Mrs. Alice Doll of northwest of Culver; Bess, who is now Mrs. Crober Castleman of Westville, Indiana; and Mrs. Maud Susdorf of Wheeler, Indiana.

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Prominent among the settlers attracted by the fertile soil of the Burr Oak Flats were the Overmyers. In 1859, Franklin Overmyer came to Indiana from Ohio, and located on the Flats, whole later, in ’78 or ’79, William came over to Union Township from Pulaski County, Franklin and William were both descendants of John George Obermayer, a German emigrant who came to America from Baden, Germany, in 1751.

The first John George Obermayer mentioned in the family history was born at Nentzlingen, in Anspach, Barvaria, in 1680. Prior to 1718, he became a citizen of Blankenloch, Baden. He was a weaver in that town, and a copy-holder later in a suburb. His youngest child, John George, was born in 1727.

“From his diary we glean, “write the family historians, “that on the 14th day of May, 1751, John George Obermayer girdled on his worldly belongings and bid farewell to mother, sisters, and brothers, and the home of his childhood, and set his face toward the far-off wilderness, the new colony of Pennsylvania, beyond the vast ocean. “That day he looked for the last time upon his old-world home and left for Rheinhausen, to sail four days later toward Manheim. On the 20th he was at Worms. Continuing the Rhine voyage, on June 4th great danger was encountered on passing through the Bay of St. Gwoar, a treacherous whirlpool. June 16th he was at Amsterdam, and on the 20th embarked from Rotterdam touching England on the 22nd, thence sailing out on the vast ocean, bound for a new world. The ship was named “Brothers.” There were two hundred passengers, and the voyage was tedious and long, for sail and wind alone were to be depended upon to bring the ship across to American shores. We read that “on the 16th day of September they landed at Philadelphia, making a voyage of about eighty-six days since leaving England, and 125 days since leaving Blankenloch.”

The next record we have of John George, we find him in what is now Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, in 1770. In 1753, he was married to Eva Rosenbaum. John George worked hard, plowing and grubbing in stumpy fields where Harrisburg is now situated. his first wife died, and he married Barbara Vogt. He served as one of the first grand jurors of Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, in 1772; was with his family clearing a farm on Sweitzers Run and Penn’s Creek in 1775: was at the head of a company of volunteers, against the Indians; fought in the Revolution as a captain; served on the county committee of safety in 1778; organized and led squads of men in protection the frontier settlements, 1779-’83; became a county overseer, and finally retired to a quiet life on his farm, the family history is full of stories of Indian raids, battles and depredations, and of exciting frontier happenings.

Franklin Overmyer, of Union Township, was a descendant of Phillip, fourth son of the emigrant, John George, by the second wife. Phillip was born in Pennsylvania in 1769, Franklin’s father was George, sixth son of Philip and Rosanna (Bishoft) Overmyer.

William Overmyer, of Union Township, descended from John George, first child born to the emigrant, by his first wife, John George was born in Pennsylvania in 1755. He had a son, Peter, first-born child, born in 1794. Peter married Mary Hodge, a native of New Jersey. Their third child was William, our Union Township settler.

Let us consider first something of the life history of Franklin Overmyer, pioneer settler in this township. He was the second son of George and Catharine (Herbest) Overmyer, and was one of five children. he was born September 21, 1835, near Lindsey, Ohio; grew to manhood on his father’s farm and married Susannah Burkett in June, 1858, daughter of Henry and Catherine (Houtz) Burkett. To this union were born eleven children, in the order of their birth, they were Harvey, Jeremiah, Samantha, Sherman, Franklin, Albert, Edward, Lewis, Mice, George W., and J. A. Garfield. Samantha, Albert and Franklin preceded their father in death.

Franklin’s father, George, was born in 1804 near Weiricktown, now Centerville, Pennsylvania, and married Catharine Herbest in 1832. In 1834, George came with his father and brothers to Ohio. With his brother Daniel, he located near Lindsey, erecting a cabin in the unbroken forest, “He was nearly six feet tall, “says the historian, “and straight and erect, muscular, well proportioned, very active and inured to hard labor. Hungry wolves would often attack young pigs and calves so they had to be secured for the night in stables where they could not enter. His farming operations were for many years carried on with an ox team, but later her procured horses and he and his sons and grandsons were later owners of some of the finest horses of the community.” His wife died in 856, and he passed away in ‘57. Then, in ‘59, the orphaned son, Franklin, came on to Indiana, where he bought and sold several farms and at length accumulated a large amount of real estate. Franklin engaged in farming and stock raising, as well as threshing, owned a grain elevator on the Nickel Plate Railroad, and bought and shipped live stock, grain and seeds. When he came from Ohio in ‘59, he located on a farm near Kewanna, and afterward moved to a portion of the farm later owned by Samuel Osborn, near the county line. Two years after that he purchased and moved to the farm which in after years became the property and home of his son Lewis. There Franklin and his wife Susannah lived till the time of her death, August 22, 1903.

In February, 1865, Franklin Overmyer enlisted in Company H, 55th Regiment, Indiana Infantry, at Michigan City, going first to Indianapolis, thence to Alexandria, Virginia, and from there to Dover, Delaware, where he remained until August, 1865, when he was mustered out. In former years he followed the carpenter’s trade, often walking a distance as far as Kewanna on Monday morning and back again at the close of the week’s work, at a time when railroads, were not as numerous as now and automobiles were unknown, In the building of the Nickel Plate Railroad he helped as one of the foremen with the construction of the roadbed. After the completion of the road he again entered the grain business, in which he continued until about 1920, as long as his health would permit.

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Franklin Overmyer and his wife Susannah were living at Burr Oak when, in 1903, they decided to take a trip to California. When about to return she was taken suddenly ill and died at Los Angeles in August 1903. The body was brought to Burr Oak for burial.Of the children, Harvey is living in Rochester; Jeremiah is dead; Susannah died in ‘68 at the age of four; Sherman is living at Richland Center; Frank is dead and the family lives in Chicago; Albert is dead and rests at North Union; Edward is living in Argos and is a widower; Lewis is living at Burr Oak; Alice married Norman Beatty, now deceased, and lived near Burr Oak Flats. Harvey married Catharine Wise; Jeremiah, Minerva Shock; Sherman, Ida Sickman; Frank, Flora Voreis; Edward, Mice Miller; Lewis, Grace Humbert and George W,. Orpha L. Mc Farland.

In 1909, Franklin Overmyer was married to Elizabeth Halderman. In December, 1917, when the Culver Exchange Bank was reorganized under the mane of the State Exchange, Mr. Overmyer became one of the directors, which position he held until his death. He belonged to the Evangelical Church. In 1906, when Culver City needed a school building and there were no funds nor means of raising any for the necessary expense, Mr. Overmyer financed the erection of a building on long term payment plans. He also subscribed generously to the fund for the erection of the high school building in 1920.

Franklin Overmyer died at his home in Burr Oak, March 18, 1922, aged eighty-six, and was buried in the Burr Oak Cemetery. He was survived by his widow, seven sons and one daughter.

Regarding William Overmyer, the later settler in Union Township, we find that he was the second son and third child of Peter and Mary Overmyer, and was born in Perry County, Ohio, May 19, 1826. William’s father was born in Union County, Pennsylvania, in 1794. Peter’s father died when the boy was about sixteen. Being the oldest of the children, much of the responsibility in the family then devolved upon Peter. In 1811, when he was seventeen, Peter and his widowed mother and younger brothers and sisters emigrated from Pennsylvania to Perry County, Ohio. There he grew up and married Mary Hodge, followed farming till 1833, when they moved with their family of six children, including William, to Sandusky County, Ohio, and located on the banks of Big Mud Creek. This property was a family possession until 1901. “Upon this tract, then an unbroken forest,” says the family history, “he settled with his family, and erected a log cabin, one and one-half stories high, of round logs, with clapboard roof, held on by weight poles on either side, using probably not an iron nail in the entire structure. The floor was what was known as a ‘puncheon floor’ which was later replaced by a floor of wide boards, pinned to cross-logs or joice with wooden pins instead of nails. In the corner was a rude ladder fastened to the wall, which led to the children’s bed-chamber above which was simply a garret with no windows and no ceiling, save the clapboard roof, through which the drifting snows frequently blew, covering children’s beds, floor and all with a blanket of purest white. In this humble and peaceful home ( William’s childhood home), the family lived, the children grew strong and robust, aiding their parents in clearing a farm and rearing a home. Another son had been born into the family, when the wife and mother of the home was separated from them by the hand of death.”

The children of Peter and Mary Overmyer were: Isaac, Sarah, William, Emanuel, Joel, Ezekiel, Elizabeth, and Levi. All the children were born in Perry County, Ohio, excepting Levi, Emanuel and Joel.

Isaac, William Overmyer’s older brother and the first-born of the family, was an accomplished ax-man. He helped subdue the forests of the Black Swamp in Ohio, and learned to swing his ax so well that nearly forty years after his death, an old acquaintance of his in Indiana said; “Isaac was the best chopper in this section of the country.” He married Elizabeth Overmyer and in ‘53 emigrated to Pulaski County, Indiana. “In company with John Overmyer and John Anderson and their families,” says the historian, “they moved to their new homes with several yoke of oxen and a team of horses, driving their cattle and sheep with them, making the journey in less than two weeks. Isaac settled on a tract of land about five miles east of Winamac, and engaged in farming until his death, January 7, 1864.

William’s older sister, Sarah, married Henry Bauman, a Swiss, and remained in Ohio. his younger brothers, Emanuel and Joel, died in childhood. “It was a custom,” the family historian says, “for early settlers of Perry County, Ohio, to get salt water at the salt springs in that locality and boil it in a large kettle or pan to evaporate the water and thus obtain salt for family use, and it was into one of these kettles that Joel, when a child, fell and was scalded to death.” Another younger brother, Ezekiel, came to Indiana in ‘52, journeying with a party of settlers in big wagons ‘cross country. He married an Ohio girl and settled on a farm near Richland Center, where he died in 1899. Ezekiel’s children were thirteen in number. William’s brother, Levi, youngest of the children, came to Indiana in ‘55, when he was twenty-one years of age, in company with his brother, Isaac, and his cousin, John and their families. He married, and went to farming in Pulaski and Fulton Counties, He died in 1894 and was buried at Richland Center. Like Ezekiel, he had thirteen children.

At the age of seven, William moved with his parents from Perry County to Sandusky County, Ohio, where he grew to manhood and married, march 21, 1850, Mary Catherine Ernsberger, born December 18, 1834. The first three years of their married life they resided just east of Fremont, and in September, 1853, moved to Pulaski County, Indiana going by rail as far as Mishawaka, thence by wagon to the tract of land of 160 acres, which he obtained from the government. Here they settled and built a home and improved their farm, afterwards purchasing eighty acres more. About this time the health of the wife and mother began to fail, and after a lingering illness of eight years’ duration, she died August 5, 1876, and was buried in Pleasant Hill Cemetery, east of Winamac.

The children of William and Mary Catherine Overmyer were: Mary A., born in 1856; Lucy A., who died in childhood; Fannie B., born in 1862; Grant, born in 1864 and died in 1870; Frank P., born in 1869; Granville, died in youth; Ida M., born in 1871; and Georgiana, born in 1873.

William Overmyer married for his second wife, Elizabeth ( Smith ) Bowersox of Woodville, Ohio, widow of Levi Bowersox. To this union were born, Estella, who died in infancy; an infant who died; and Eugene. “In 1879, William sold his farm in Pulaski County,” says the historian, “and bought 2210 acres in Marshall County, near Marmont. Here, in 1881, the hand of death again entered his home and took from him his second wife. Having found both of his former wives in Sandusky County, he again turned his attention thither, and in November, 1882, married Mrs. Libbie ( Snyder) Gaumel, of Lindsey. He continued to reside on his farm, which he had well improved by this time, until the time of his death, December 21, 1892. He is buried in the Voreis Cemetery, one-half mile from where he lived, He was a member of the United Brethren Church for thirty-eight years; was Justice of the Peace for Pulaski County a number of years, and was called ‘Squire’ for the rest of his life.” His widow, who survived him a considerable number of years, went to Plymouth to reside.

According to the historian, Thompson, the William Overmyer family did not arrive in Union Township until the spring of 1878. This historian adds that William’s parents were born in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, respectively, and the father was a farmer by occupation, and served in the War of 1812. William attended the common schools at intervals, in Ohio, took up farming as his life work, and in 1853 moved to Pulaski County, removing to Union Township in ‘78.


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