Welcome to Our Little Corner Of Ohio
Williams County
A USGenWeb Site
______
St. Joseph Township Families/Information
(family histories, marriages, deaths, births, deeds, wills, town info., etc.)
Send your information to Mike Sandridge
_______
The Reichman Homestead
by Cindy (Heisler) Taylor
Born in Maryland in 1798, John REICHMAN came to Williams County, Ohio with his parents (father and step-mother) in 1844. He homesteaded a farm north-east of Edgerton in St. Joseph Township. One year later, in 1845, his father (John REICHMAN, Sr.) died and was (according to John, Jr's. obituary) the first person buried in the Thomas Cemetery about 1/2 mile from the family homestead. In 1846 at the age of 47 John REICHMAN married a neighbor's daughter, Elizabeth KLINE, who was just 16 years old. They had nine children, four died in childhood from various diseases that swept through the area at that time. Four sons and one daughter lived to adulthood. On March 5, 1896, at nearly 98 years of agem John REICHMAN died. He died on his 50th. wedding anniversary and his wife, Elizabeth, died just three years later at the age of 69. Both John and Elizabeth are buried in Thomas Cemetery and their tombstone can easily be seen by anyone who passes by. The 160 acre farm was inherited by their children.
From the time the REICHMAN farm was homesteaded until the late 1800's there was merely a log cabin and barn on the land. In the late 1800's a frame home was built near the log cabin by John REICHMAN's son, Noah. The old barn was moved near the new home and was attached to a new barn which along with several other outbuildings was built around the same time as the frame home. the log cabin was torn down shortly after the frame home was built. The frame home has since been remodeled. The barn, both old and new parts, is still standing (although in disrepair) and the original hand-hewn log structure is still in use.
Noah REICHMAN and his wife, Sarah (FIX), bought back most of the original farm from his siblings and passed it on to their only child, Harvey REICHMAN and his wife, Alma (FREYMAN). They had two children, Evelyn and Maurice. Maurice died at 17 from polio. Evelyn married Raymond HEISLER and lived on the farm for many years. Their oldest son, Allan HEISLER, bought the farm in 1962 from his grandmother, Alma REICHMAN. Allan still owns most of the original homestead which now consists of 120 acres on which his family still lives. It has been in the same family for over 150 years.
___________________________
Queries Surnames Lookups Your Web Pages Williams Co.Townships/Map & Neighboring Counties Sources Guestbook Williams County GenWeb Archives Williams County Research Information Williams County Chapter Ohio Genealogical Society Other Sites of Genealogical Interest OHGenWeb OHGenWeb Archives USGenWeb Home USGenWeb State Links