Richard’s grandfather, John Chenoweth, was born circa 1682 in England, is thought to have emigrated from Wales sometime before 1704. In about 1705-06, he married Mary Calvert, the daughter of John Calvert and Judith Stamper. They were the parents of 8 children all born in Maryland; John, Mary, Richard, Hannah, Arthur, William, Thomas and Ruth. They are known to have settled on a large tract of land by the Gunpowder River in Baltimore County, Maryland, near the thriving seaport of Joppa. John Chenoweth was a blacksmith by trade and left a will.

Thomas, born in 1720, the last son born to John and Mary, married Mary Pricket on 27 November 1742 in Maryland and afterward moved to Frederick County, Virginia where he purchased 275 acres of land in 1761. Thomas and Mary had 12 children; Abraham, Martha, Sarah, Mary, John, Thomas, Arthur, Richard, William, Elijah, Ann and Hannah. Richard was three years old when the family moved to VA. This family is especially distinguished in that six of the sons saw military service, John, Thomas, Richard, William and Elijah in the Revolutionary War and Arthur was in the War of 1812.

Richard was born April 1, 1758 in Maryland. He joined the Maryland Militia in 1778 in Washington Co., Maryland under the leadership of James Prather and he also served as a Lieutenant with Captain John Grist’s Company, which was attached to the 3rd Maryland Regiment.

After the war, Richard married Martha Smith, most likely settled in Maryland, where Arthur Thomas and Hannah were born.

By February 1790, at age 31, Richard and his family were living on leased land in Mason County Kentucky and four more children were born: Richard Jr., Sarah, Ruth and Uriah.

Six years later in 1798, at age 37, the family moved again, to the Pike-Ross County area in Ohio, where the last three children were born; Rebecca and Nathan, who were twins, and Martha. The family is enumerated as residents of Pike County in the 1820 and 1830 census.

The final move for Richard and Martha (now both in their 70’s) was to Tippecanoe County, Indiana. This move occurred around 1835.  The 1840 census shows him in Lauramie Township in Tippecanoe county, Indiana. The census listed the household as being 1 male 20-30; 1male 80-90; 1female 10-15; 2 females 15-20; 1 female 50-60 and 1 female 80-90.This was a busy household. It is hard to imagine the hardships a family went through moving around in the country by foot and with a horse and wagon in the 1820’s to 30’s. Roads were not much if any and Indiana was just a young state.

Richard died in December of 1847 and Martha died in December of 1845 and they are buried in the Salem Cemetery in Sheffield Township in Tippecanoe County. 
The Daughters of the American Revolution and the Sons of the Revolution held a memorial service on May 16,1998 and placed a marker at the grave. His estate settlement shows he owned 3 parcels of land in Sections 20 and 33 in Sheffield Township.

Richard and Martha’s children are as follows:

Of the 3 born in Maryland:

• Arthur married twice and is buried in White County, Indiana.
• Thomas married twice, bought land in Tippecanoe County in 1830 and he is buried at Clarks Hill. Joyce Corns Wiegand descends from this Thomas who married Asenath Mounts, April 15, 1813 in Ross Co., Ohio. Her lineage is: John (1), Thomas (2), Richard (3), Thomas T (4) Ira M (5) Thomas Daniel (6) Charles Lewis (7) Anna Margurite (8) and Joyce Corns Wiegand.
• Hannah married Joseph Williams and is buried in Tippecanoe Co., Indiana.

Of the four born in Mason County, Kentucky:

• Richard Jr., lived a short time in Tippecanoe County, but moved to Grundy County, Missouri where he died and is buried. Richard Jr. answered the call in 1813 when the British and their Indian allies led by Tecumseh launched their second attempt to take Fort Meigs in Ohio.
• Sarah married in Licking County Ohio.
• Ruth married Samuel Findley and they had 3 children.
• Uriah and family came to Tippecanoe County in 1841, where he died in 1852.

Of the 3 children born in Ohio:

• Rebecca married first Thomas Hollenback, then 2nd to Daniel Shoemaker in Tippecanoe Co in 1835
• Nathan was here in Tippecanoe Co. in 1830.  He died leaving no heirs.
• Martha was living in Ross Co. Ohio when her father died.

Source of Material came from Joyce Corns Wiegand, a direct descendant of Richard Chenoweth and Martha Smith, and also from the DAR Library in Washington and the Alameda McCollough Library in Tippecanoe County.

Written by Peggy Reen