Four Generations: Gideon Early Roush, Richard Lawrence Roush, Lawrence Hiram Roush, Janice Roush about 1946
The following traces back Robie’s Roush lineage to a prominent family that fought for the Americans in the revolutionary war. This makes Robie in fact a daughter of the Revolution (DAR).
In the closing months of the year 1736, or early in 1737, the Perth Amboy sailed up the Delaware river from Rotterdam and landed in Philadelphia. She had on board among others a young German immigrant whose full name was John Adam Rausch, but who is usually known on the records as John Rausch. John was part of the great German exodus, the result of the devastating 30 years war. He spent some years in eastern Pennsylvania, married, and a few years later with his young family followed the migration to the Shenandoah Valley. The first indication of a permanent settlement is the grant of four hundred acres made to him and his wife Susannah on Mill Creek in 1773, in Dunmore County. By this time, a large family had grown up around him, and his grandchildren were beginning to spring up on all sides. There were at least nine sons and one daughter in this large family. They were served by Lutheran ministers even in those early days. The settlement on Mill Creek was so largely Lutheran that it was an easy matter to organize a congregation at an early day before the revolution. It was known as Pine Church, and John Rausch and his many children with their families formed a large part of its membership. In the United States census of 1790 the names of the father and six sons are given as heads of families with a total membership of thirty-one.
Those desirous of trying their fortunes in a new country found ready purchasers for the homes and farms they were leaving. As soon as land was vacated by one family, others were ready to take it up. The people of Virginia looked to the Northwest Territory on the Ohio River and beyond. Jacob Rausch in 1774 accompanied the General Andrew Lewis Company expedition to oppose the Indians in the Northwest. The soldiers met the red men at the mouth of the Great Kanawha River, and on October 10, 1774, fought a desperate and disastrous battle. Jacob escaped and after enduring many hardships and suffering greatly from hunger, found his way back to his home on Mill Creek in the Shenandoah Valley. But in spite of his trying experiences he brought back with him impressions of the richness of the soil and vastness of the forests that time could not efface. By the end of 1798 every son of John and Susannah Rausch had bidden farewell to the graves of his parents, and to the farm and hearth he had enjoyed for so many years, and had taken up the long journey over mountain, valley and river, to the banks of the Ohio. The brothers took up a large tract of land and settled on both sides of the Ohio near the mouth of the Great Kanawha.
It must be repeated therefore that the colonies had staunch friends in the members of the Lutheran Church and received their hearty support in life and property without stint and restriction in the long struggle for freedom. We have a remarkable proof of this in the Rausch family. All the nine sons of the grand old couple John and Susannah Rausch are known to have rendered service in arms in behalf of the cause of liberty. John, the second in years, formed a company of militia and became the captain of the company, and was known the rest of his days as Captain Rausch. Jacob, George and Jonas served in the militia of Virginia. Captain John Rausch and his brother our ancestor, George Rausch, fought in the battle of Yorktown. Jonas was said to have witnessed the surrender of British General Cornwallis.
When the Roush brothers took a large tract of land in Mason County, Ohio, George (direct ancestor to Robie) came first with his brother, Captain John, in whose name the purchase was made. He must have preceded his family on his first trip to the Ohio Valley as records show him to have come here in 1798, and birth and baptismal records show that his son Jacob was born and baptized in Shenandoah County, 1799.
In 1807 George Roush moved to Sutton Township, Meigs County, Ohio, where he purchased a tract of land from Edward W Tupper. It was that level tract that is now just west of the little town of Dorcas near Racine, known as the DeWolf farm. On this tract of land he lived until his death. His first wife, Catherine Zerkel, daughter of Michael and Catherine Sehler Zerkel, whom he married in Shenandoah County about 1781, must have died soon after this.
The George Roush family thus became among the very early settlers of Sutton Township in Ohio. The name has since that early date been perpetuated by the Jonas and especially the Jacob Roush families. Although young he did his part in the struggle for Independence. He enlisted in the Continental Army in the fall of 1779. His grandchildren tell that he talked much of his experiences as a soldier often relating interesting incidents that occurred, the one upon which there seems to be no variation we quote from an old clipping from the State Gazette of Point Pleasant, W VA, which bears no date: “Dr Lafayette Roush tells that his grandfather, Daniel Roush, has often told him about his father, George Roush, being at the battle of Yorktown and seeing Cornwallis hand over his sword to George Washington and that many of the soldiers wept for Joy”. His brother, Jonas, was also at the surrender.
It is said in his older years that George would speak frequently about his war days, and that in his semi-conscious moments of his last illness he would speak of charging on the British and tell his comrades to get ready that the British were coming over the hill to attack them. He was by trade a mechanic—and a very good one, we are told, and a farmer.
Of the wife, Catherine, we have this touching tradition that seems well founded. A few years after coming to the Ohio Valley, Catherine was in declining health. She much loved the old Virginia home and frequently pined to go back. This was a distance of more than three hundred miles to be traveled, over the mountains, across the valleys, thru the gulches on horseback and on foot. But neither the distance, the mountains, nor the streams had any healing qualities for her homesickness. At last the husband prepared for the trip and started with his frail wife on this long journey of many days which in no wise seemed to reduce her strength. After many days travel the last mountain was crossed and in the vale below sparkled the quiet Shenandoah which gave assurance that a little beyond lay the old homestead. They wend their way up the stream, the horses stand on the land of the old plantation in front of the home for which Catharine had so long pined. Dismounting from his horse her husband assisted her in getting her feet again in the old door yard for many years frequented by them and where the honeymoon days had been spent.
The joy was too great, she was overwhelmed and wept as a child. She did not continue her abode long in the old home as she soon passed away. Her remains were carefully folded in the soil of the old Virginia plantation. The burial place had not been found as of Volume 1 of the Roush History. She was the daughter of Michael and Katharine Zerkel born Aug.14, 1763 in Shenandoah County, Va, her baptism was sponsored by Henry Brock and his wife, Magdalene. Her brothers, Henry and Michael, soon followed the Roush colony to the Ohio Valley. Just when she died is not known. It should also be noted here that the Zerkle Family History compiled by J. Wm Harpine states on page 9: We have made several unsuccessful attempts to learn the exact death date of George Roush‘s first wife who was the mother of twelve children. However, it is claimed on good authority while visiting in Virginia at her old home she passed away. Neither do we know the exact burial place of this noted wife and mother. Her passing away in Virginia some three hundred miles from home we rather surmise she would have been buried in the old Nease-Zirkle graveyard on Holman’s Creek. In this graveyard her father and mother are buried as well as other members of the Zirkle family.
In the marriage records of Gallipolis, (Vol.1, page 50), we find the license of George Roush and (Kitty) Catherine Wolfe. To her as a widow he was married on Aug. 13, 1815. One child, Hannah, was born to this marriage. It is very unusual for a man to have been a citizen of three counties at the time of their respective organization. In 1774, Shenandoah County, VA, of which he was then an active citizen, was organized. In 1798 he moved to Mason County, W VA., where he lived up to 1807. The county was rapidly settled so that in 1804 it became organized and officially recognized as a county. In 1807 he moved to Meigs County, OH and lived there until his death. In 1819 the people of Meigs County had their small commonwealth set off from Gallia County and started housekeeping for themselves. A courthouse and jail were built at Chester, the county seat, officers elected and court organized. Among the first jurors of this county appears the name of George Roush.
In the little village of Racine on the third terrace overlooking the beautiful Ohio, whose waters he had many times crossed, rest the remains of this old and good man. His little tombstone, well preserved, bears the inscription, “George Roush, a Soldier in the Revolution, died May 31, 1845, age 84 years. By his side lies his last wife, whose inscription reads, “Catharine, wife of George Roush, died October 20, 1845, aged 74 years.”From “History of the Roush Family In America, Vol 1, pages 411-421. 1928.
Samuel Roush, eighth child of George and Catharine Zerkel Roush, was born in Shenandoah Co, VA 28 Jan, 1795 and baptized 3 Apr, 1795. When he was three years of age, he was brought by his parents to the Roush Colony in Graham district in what later became Mason Co, VA. We do not have the date of his marriage to Catherine Zerkel, daughter of Henry Zerkel, who came to the Graham settlement about the time the Roushes emigrated there. She was no doubt christened in honor of her aunt Katharine Zerkel Roush, mother of Samuel. Her birth was 1803 in Shenandoah Co. The Samuel Roush farm was in the vicinity of what is now known as White Church neighborhood. Here he raised a large and highly respected family, having attained his four score years. Both husband and wife died in 1876, “Universally loved and sincerely lamented,” to use the words of Hale, Hogg and Lewis in their history of the Great Kanawha Valley.
The land that would become Mason County, West Virginia was first surveyed in 1772 by a team led by George Washington. They surveyed a tract of 51,302 acres, just over eighty square miles, north of a line drawn between Letart Falls and the mouth of Three mile Creek on the Great Kanawha, including all of Graham District, all of Waggener, and most of Robinson and Lewis Districts. The land was patented to them on December 15, 1772 by Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of Virginia, on behalf of King George III. Most of Graham District consists of a 6,000 acre tract allocated to John West, occupying the east portion of the district, and the neighboring 6,000 acres allocated to John Polson, forming the center of the district. The segment of Graham District lying north of Robinson and running northward along the boundary with Waggener District consists of the eastern ends of tracts originally allocated to Andrew Waggener, George Muse, and Peter Hog, making up part of the balance of 4,736 acres out of Graham District’s total of 16,736; the remainder consists of submerged land in the Ohio River, not included in the original survey, but reserved by Virginia when it ceded its claims to the Northwest Territory in 1784.
John Polson sold his 6,000 acre tract to William Graham, a Presbyterian minister from Richmond, who hoped to establish a settlement in western Virginia for himself and his followers. In 1798, Graham and several families that had agreed to join his colony traveled to what would soon become Mason County, clearing several acres of land, and building a small fort. The following year, Graham returned to Richmond on business, and there died of a fever. His followers abandoned the settlement, and returned east. The place where they settled became known as Graham Station. Graham’s heirs sold the land at public auction, where it was purchased by John Roush of Shenandoah County on behalf of himself and his brothers, Jacob, Henry, Daniel, George, and Jonas, except for 150 acres that Graham had sold to Michael Siegrist before his death. The Roushes and their relatives settled on the land.
David Roush, fifth child of Samuel and Catharine Zerkel Roush, was born in Mason Co, VA in Dec 1832. He received what education the local schools could give, aided father Samuel in the work of the large farm and soon became one of the substantial citizens of his native county. In 1853, Charlotte Hart, daughter of Christian and Mary Hart (29, Aug, 1833 – 6 Nov, 1905), became his wife. He was industrious, energetic and noble in his living. In his physical stature he was almost a perfect type of manhood. His farm home was beautifully situated in the Upper Flats of Graham district, part of the large Roush tract. He died 19, Feb, 1904.
Know all men by these Presents that I David Roush, a farmer in the district of Graham County of Mason and the State of West Virginia being in ill health but of sound mind and publish this my last and to this date my only will and testament.
And as to my worldly estate and all the property Real, Personal or mixed, of which I shall die seized and possessed or to which I shall be entitled at the time of my decease, I devise, bequeath and dispose thereof in the following manner to wit:
First my will is that all my just debts, and funeral expenses of both myself and my wife Charlotte Roush, shall, by executors hereinafter names be paid out of my estate as soon after our decease as shall by them found to be convenient.
To my wife, Charlotte Roush I devise and bequeath all my property both personal and Real and my mixed, to have to to hold the same to her for and during the term of her natural life.
Then at her, my wife, Charlotte Roush’s decease. I devise, bequeath and dispose of all the property, real, personal or mixed of which I shall die seized and possessed or to which I shall be entitled at the time of my decease is the part remaining thereof in the manner following to wit:
As to my personal property:
To my daughter Mattie V. Roush I give and bequeathe the most valuable horse and cow of which I shall be possessed or to which I shall be entitled at the time of my decease or that shall be a part of the estate herein conveyed at the time of my wife Charlotte Roush’s decease; she my daughter Mattie V. Roush having the right and privilege hereby granted unto her to make for herself the choice of said one horse and one cow before any disposition is made of any part of this class of my personal estate.
Also I give and bequeathe to my daughter Mattie Roush all my household goods and Kitchen furniture to which I may be entitled at the time of my decease or that part remaining thereof at the time of my wife Charlotte Roush’s decease.
To my daughter Druzilla Rickard, I give and bequeathe the second most valuable horse and cow of which I shall be possessed or to which I shall be entitles at the time of my decease, or that shall be a part of the estate herein conveyed at the time of wife Charlotte Roush’s decease she my daughter Druzilla Rickard having the right and privilege to make for herself the choice of said one horse and one cow before any disposition is made of my personal property other than that is the choice of my daughter Mattie V. Roush of one horse and one cow herein bequeathed to her in the foregoing paragraph relating thereto.
The property therein conveyed and bequeathed viz, one horse and one cow and my household goods and Kitchen furniture as hereinbefore described to my daughter Mattie V Roush and one horse and one cow together with former donations to my daughter Druzilla Rickard is designed to make them my daughter Mattie and Druzilla equal in bequests with my sons McEndrie and Gideon, to each of whom I formerly gave the sum of two hundred dollars consisting in one horse to each of them and the balance in money. The two hundred dollars named herein not being my part of the amounts secured to me by certain notes executed by my sons McEndrie C. Roush and Gideon E Roush and now in my possession.
As to the remainder of my personal property it shall be appraised according to law and distributed accordion to law and distributed according to valuation in the manner following or sold and the proceeds therefore distributed in the following manner to wit: To my daughter the aforesaid Mattie V. Roush, in addition to all former bequests I give devise and bequeaths an annuity of twenty five dollars ($25.00) per year for all that period of time beginning with the date of the twenty first anniversary of her, the aforesaid Mattie V Roush’s birth and ending with the date of her marriage and in case she should remain unmarried until after our decease….. for all the period of time from the twenty first anniversary of her birth to our decease or as long as she shall remain with us as a member or our household.
As to the remainder of my personal property or the proceeds arising from the sale thereof after the foregoing bequests have been made I give, devise and bequeath one equal share thereof to each of my four children, that is to say, to my son McEndrie C. Roush one fourth, to my son Gideon E Roush one fourth, to my daughter Druzilla Rickard one fourth and to my daughter Mattie V Roush one fourth of the remainder of my personal property or proceeds thereof after the foregoing bequests have been made.
As to my real estate of which I shall die seized and possessed or to which I shall be entitled at the time of my decease I devise bequeathe and dispose thereof in the manner to wit: to my daughter Druzilla Rickard I give devise and bequeath all that three parcels of land lying and being in the District of Graham County of Mason and State of West Virginia and the west end of my premises and bordering on the lands of Henry Olinger and Ira Hylton, the same land that was conveyed to me by the following deeds viz.
The first, al lot containing ten acres more or less conveyed to me by Henry P. Gibbs and his wife Lydia Gibbs by there deed bearing the date on the 15th day of October in the year of 1877 and duly recorded in the office of the clerk of the County Court of Mason County and State of West Virginia in Deed Book 30 folio 414.
The second a lot containing thirty five acres more or less conveyed to me also by Henry P. Gibbs and Lydia Gibbs his wife, by their deed bearing date on the 26th day of February in the year 1881 and duly recorded.
The third parcel, a lot containing one third of an acre more or less, conveyed to me by Calvin M. Parsons and Sarah Parsons his wife and bearing date on the 26th day of December in the year 1891… containing in all forty five and one third acres more or less, and its appurtences and all the profits, income and advantage that may result therefrom, from and after the decease of my wife Charlotte Roush to have and to hold the same to her the said Druzilla Rickard, her heirs and assigns, from and after the death of my said wife, and to her and their rise and behoof forever.
To my daughter Mattie V. Roush, I give, devise and bequeathe all that two parcels of land lying and being in the District of Graham County of Mason and State of West Virginia and bordering immediately on the East side of the lands herein conveyed to Drucilla Rickard and running parallel herewith; the same lots or parcels what was conveyed to me by the following deeds viz:
The first parcel a lot containing twenty one acres more or less conveyed to me by Henry F Roush and Sarah A. Roush his wife by their deed bearing date on the 28th day of January in the year 1874. The second parcel a lot containing twenty one acres more or less the same that was conveyed to me by Samuel Roush and Catherine Roush his wife by their deed bearing date on the 8th day of November in the year 1871… containing in all forty two acres more or less, and the appurtences thereto and all the profits income and advantage that may result, therefore form and after the decease of my wife Charlotte Roush, to have and to hold the same to her the said Mattie V. Roush her heirs and assignees from and after the death of my said sife and to her and their use and behoof forever.
To my son Gideon E. Roush I give, devise and bequeathe all that two parcels or lots of land lying and being in the District of Graham County of Mason and State of West Virginia and bordering immediately on the East side of and running parallel with the lands herein conveyed to the said Mattie V. Roush, the same being the lands conveyed to me by the following deeds viz. The first parcel a lot containing twenty one acres more or less the same that was conveyed to me by John Roush and Clarissa Roush his wife by their deed bearing date on the 31st day of July in the year 1880. The second parcel a lot containing twenty one acres more or less being the same land that was conveyed to my by Gideon E. Roush and Elisabeth A. Roush by their deed bearing date on the 12th day of November in the year 1888. Containing in all forty two acres more or less, and all the appurtences thereto and all the profits income and advantage that may result therefrom and after the decease of my wife the said Charlotte Roush, to have to to hold the same to him the said Gideon E. Roush his heirs and assigns from and after the death of my said wife and to his and their use and behoof forever.
To my son McEndrie C. Roush I give, devise and bequeathe all that three certain tracts and parcels lying and being in the County of Graham of Mason in the state of West Virginia and bordering on the north on the lands of Jonas Roush and on the East on the lands of Calvin L. Roush the same lots or parcels of land conveyed to me by the following deeds viz: The first parcel of lot containing ten acres more or less being the same parcel of land conveyed to me by David Roush executor by his deed bearing date on the 29th day of December in the year 1873 and duly recorded. The second parcel, a lot containing thirty and fifty two one hundredths (30 52/100) acres more or less being the same land that was also conveyed to me by David Roush executor by his deed bearing the date as above. The third parcel a lot containing twenty acres more or less being the same parcel of land that was conveyed to me by Gideon E. Roush and Elisabeth S. Roush his wife by their deed bearing the date on the 12th day of November in the year 1888. Containing in all sixty and 52/100 acres more or less, and all the appurtences thereto and all the profits income and advantage that may result therefrom from and after the decease of my wife the said Charlotte Roush to have and to hold the same to the the said McEndrie C. Roush his heirs and assigns from and after the death of my said wife and to his and their us and behoof forever.
And lastly I do so nominate and appoint my said sons McEndrie C. Roush and Gideon E. Roush to be the executors of this my last Will and Testament they having first given sufficient bond as required by law.
In testimony whereof I the aforesaid David Roush have to this my last Will and Testament contained on these four sheets of paper and to every sheet thereof, subscribed my name and to this last sheet hereof I have subscribed my name and affixed my seal this the third day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred. An order made in execution on June 22nd, 1904.
Gideon Early Roush was born in Mason, West Virginia (13 Apr, 1861 – 25 OCt, 1949). He married Elizabeth Artemesia Wolfe in 21 Jan, 1883. She was the daughter of Marshall and Emily Wolf. Gideon was for several years one of the noted teachers of Mason County. Gideon and Elizabeth moved to a farm near Letart, Meigs County, Ohio and raised their family. In the 3 July 1927 edition of the Athens Messenger, Dale and Ray Roush are guests of their grandparents, Mr and Mrs. Gideon Roush of Letart. Below is a postcard written to Gideon from his sister Druzilla announcing the death of their Uncle John Zerkle.
Richard Lawrence Roush, third child of Gideon and Elizabeth, was a farmer in Letart Falls, Ohio. He was born 1 Sep, 1886 in New Haven, Mason County, West Virginia. He married Josephine Victoria Johnson (9 Sep, 1890 – 24 sep, 1971) on 9 Nov, 1907 in Meigs County, Ohio. They had a farm near Letart Falls, Ohio.
Lawrence Hiram Roush, eldest son of Richard and Victoria Roush, was born 23 May, 1910 in Letart, Meigs Co, Ohio. He married Avice Smith on 16, Jul, 1932. He died young, age 40, on June 7, 1950.
Larry Gene Roush was born on Feb 25, 1935, in Oklahoma to Lawrence Hiram Roush and Avice Smith Roush in Chester, Ohio. Larry married Marietta Jane Murry on 16 Mar, 1962. They had three childen, Darryn and twins Rowdy and Robie, born 3 Mar, 1967. Larry and Marietta were divorced 12 Jan, 1978.
