Mount Perry, Ohio

See also: Mount Perry, Queensland, Australia

Mount Perry is an unincorporated community in northern Madison Township, Perry County, Ohio, United States, northeast of Somerset. State Route 204 runs through the town. It is in the Northern Local School District, home of the Sheridan Generals.

Mount Perry, Ohio is setting on land once belonging to Daniel Minor

Frederick Miner Sr. is thought to have been born in 1777, the son of Western Pennsylvania pioneers Jacob and Maria (Nein) Minerd Sr. He and his brother Daniel were pioneer settlers of Perry County, OH. At last count, Frederick and his wives together produced 13 children, 51 grandchildren and at least 124 great-grandchildren, virtually all born before the year 1900.

As a teenager, in 1791, Frederick moved with his parents from Maryland to a 393-acre farm on the border of Fayette and Somerset Counties, PA. That's where he met his first wife, Elizabeth "Betsy" Sechman (1782-1822), daughter of John and Mary "Maria" Seighman, a German family of Fayette County, PA. (Click to see a timeline of John Seighman's life.)

Their children were John Minor, Henry Miner, Elizabeth Bush, Rebecca Bateson, Barbara Houser, Nathan Miner and Sarah Miner.

Frederick had a close relationship with his brother Daniel Sr. In about 1812, they left Pennsylvania and moved to southeast Ohio. In December of that year, they jointly bought land in Sego, Perry County, OH. They purchased their tracts from the U.S. Land Office at Zanesville, Muskingum County, OH.

A tribute to Ohio pioneers as published in Ballou's Pictorial, 1856

Frederick also bought his own separate farm in mid-October 1813, agreeing to pay the price of $334.40. Brother Daniel also bought a separate farm near on what now is the town of Mt. Perry, which he sold after a few years.

Frederick and Daniel only kept the jointly held farm for a few years, and on May 10, 1817, one Henry Gordon made the final payment, giving him title to the land.

Each year between 1813 and 1817, Frederick made installment payments on his own farm, occasionally doing so early and receiving a small discount. On Sept. 29, 1817, Frederick paid his final installment to the Land Office in the amount of $39.85. Three months later, on Dec. 10, 1817, his official patent (#2346) was signed by President James Monroe and Josiah Meigs, Commissioner of the General Land-Office. Frederick received the patent some time later, and the document must have been a source of unending pride. He lived on his farm for the rest of his life -- nearly 60 years.

Frederick's land patent containing President Monroe's signature

Betsy was buried in the same row of graves as her sister in law, Mary Minor, in the Hopewell Church Cemetery west of Sego. The fact of the adjacent burials has been an important clue in demonstrating that the two families -- Frederick's and Daniel's -- were related.

On Nov. 11, 1824, Frederick married Jane Richardson (1796-1839), by the hand of T. Flood. A record of the marriage today is found in Muskingum County, OH. She is believed to have been a widow, but nothing further is known of her origins. Absalom and Rebecca (Miner) Danison – sold part of their Mt. Perry farm to what today is the Mt. Perry Methodist Church and Cemetery.

References

• A tribute to Ohio pioneers as published in Ballou's Pictorial, 1856

Coordinates: 39°52′43″N 82°13′12″W / 39.87861°N 82.22°W / 39.87861; -82.22