Jeremiah Bisher ^{1 2}

   Another name for Jeremiah was Jeremiah Bicher.

   FamilySearch ID: L6QX-BK5.

  General Notes:

There is a Bisher Cemetery in Union Township, White County, IN.

It is believed that his fathe/brother is Jacob or John Bisher because of the deeds on file at the Warren County, Ohio Genealogical Society which we have not yet inspected. Warren County is where Jeremiah married his first wife in 1826.

BISHAN, Jacob from MASON, William Inverse 1799-1831 Index Page 12
BISHER, Jeremiah to FARIS, Peter Inverse 1799-1831 Index Page 61
BISHIR, Jacob to BISHIR, Jeremiah Inverse 1799-1831 Index Page 13
BISHIR, Jeremiah from BISHIR, Jacob Inverse 1799-1831 Index Page 13
BISHIR, Jeremiah from MASON, James Inverse 1799-1831 Index Page 15
BIGGER, John (Patent) from UNITED STATES Inverse 1799-1831 Index Page 11
See http://www.co.warren.oh.us/genealogy/deeds-A-B.htm

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Tax List: 1827, Mason, Warren, OH. Two Jermiah Bishers appear on the tax list: one on page 59, the other on page 79.

2. Tax List: 1830, Mason, Warren, OH. A Jeremiah Bisher appears on page 69 and page 284 of the 1830 tax list.

3. Property on 20 Dec 1830 in Monticello, White, IN. ³
LAND OWNERS AND SETTLERS OF 1830-33. On the same day that John Burns entered his land, November 2, 1830, James Kerr bought 80 acres in section 24; John Miller, in section 19; Mahlon Frazer, in section 9; on the following day Daniel Baum entered 80 acres in section 8 and Robert Newell 80 acres in section 18; John Bostick, 80 acres in section 12, on the 12th of October, same year; Joseph H. Graham, 80 acres in section 8, November 15, 1830; John Stockton, 80 acres in section 7, on November 20th, and Jeremiah Bisher filed his claim on December 20th, also of the year 1830.

4. Organizations: Old Settlers' Association, 1831, Monticello, White, IN. ⁴
The Old Settlers' Association, of which Mr. Spencer was perhaps the first president, virtually left no records until the early '70s, the anxieties, horrors and responsibilities of the Civil war overshadowing much of that uncertain period. But the 16th of August, 1873, was its red letter day, as the old settlers then assembled at the courthouse in Monticello, elected permanent officers and arranged to keep a record of all subsequent meetings of the association. The officers thus chosen were as follows: Alfred Reed, president; Charles W. Kendall, secretary; Israel Nordyke, treasurer; Peter Price, William Burns (son of old John Burns and the first or second child born in the county), Robert Rothrock, Solomon McCully, Noah Davis, Thomas Downey, Samuel Smelcer, Nathaniel Rogers, John Burns, Joseph McBeth, Joseph H. Thompson, William Jordan and Austin Ward, vice presidents. All persons who had resided in the county for twenty-one years were made eligible to membership and the secretary was directed to enter the names of all applicants, with the dates of their first residence in the county. At each annual meeting he was also to record deaths or removals from the county. Thus was the Old Settlers' Association put upon a businesslike basis, which has since endured and brought so much pleasure and profit to its members. The annual meeting is fixed as the last Saturday in August. The citizens of Monticello have been especially enthusiastic and liberal in support of the entertainments, which are so thoroughly appreciated by the thousands who now throng to the gatherings of the old settlers, their relatives and friends, wherever found, but mostly collected from within the limits of White County.

PIONEERS OF 1829-67

As entered in the record book of the association the following are the best-known of the old settlers who have joined that organization, with the years of their coming:
1829-Joseph H. Thompson, Robert Rothrock, Mary Thompson, Calvin C. Spencer, Matilda Peirce, Eliza M. Kendall, Louisa Virden.
1830-John Herron, Jacob Buchanan, George D. Washburn.
1831-John Burns, Samuel Alkire, Catherine Bartley, John Roberts, Wm. Burns, Catherine Orr, Peter Price, George W. Spencer, Joseph Rothrock, Samuel Smelcer, Jeremiah Bisher, Robert Neal, G. W. Redding, Martha Roberts.

5. Fact: Aug 1831, , Carroll, IN. ⁵ The territory included within the presents limits of White County had a political existence before it was organized as a separate civil body. Its area, besides much more country north and west, was attached to the County of Carroll by legislative enactment, at the time the latter was erected in 1828. On the 11th of May, 1831, the commissioners of that county ordered that all the territory attached to the county, or a part of the county, west of the Tippecanoe River should thereafter be Prairie Township; and an election was ordered held on the first Monday of the following August for the election of one justice of the peace, the vote to be polled at the house of Jesse L. Watson, who was appointed inspector. At this election the following men voted: J. L. Watson, Jesse Johnson, Samuel Smelcer, Michael Ault, Jeremiah Bisher, W. H. McCulloch, Aaron Cox, Royal Hazleton, Ed McCarty, Charles Wright, William Phillips, R. Harrison, Robert A. Barr, William Woods, Ashford Parker-total, fifteen.

6. Property on 26 Sep 1831 in , White, IN. Jeremiah is listed with 5 land patents purchased from the Federal Government on 26 Sep 1831 to 1 Nov 1849, a total of 320 acres. Copies may be printed at the Bureau of Land Management website at:
http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/.

7. Court: on 17 Oct 1834 in , White, IN. ⁶
THE FIRST JUDGMENT OF THE WHITE CIRCUIT COURT. The first term of the White Circuit Court was held at the home of George A. Spencer, in Big Creek Township, about five miles southwest of Monticello, on Friday, October 17, 1834. Present James Barnes and Thomas Wilson, associate judges. Both judges presented their commissions signed by Noah Noble, governor, dated July 7, 1834, and William Sill presented his commission as clerk, which was also signed by the governor and dated July 7, 1834. These commissions were each for a term of seven years. Mr. Sill took the oath of office before Aaron Hicks, sheriff, and thus originated the White Circuit Court. A grand jury was convened and, having heard witnesses, returned one indictment charging Jeremiah Bishir with malicious mischief. It seems that his neighbor, John Roberts, owned a certain horse which had broken into the Bishir fields. Mr. Bishir had caught the horse and tied to its tail a full-sized clapboard, the which the said horse had kicked until both tail and clapboard were almost worn out. At the April term, 1835, towit on Friday, April 17, 1835, the case came on for hearing when Mr. Bishir entered a plea of guilty and the court fined him $5 with the costs and ordered "that the said defendant do stand committed in the custody of the sheriff of said county for the space of one minute." This first judgment violates the laws of syntax for which it seems there was no penalty, but tradition informs us that tho bystanders gathered in a circle around the prisoner and for the full space of one minute he was "it." At that time there was no jail in the county or Mr. Bishir would have had the honor of being our first jail bird.

8. Court: tresspassing [as described in A Standard History of White County, Indiana] on 17 Apr 1835 in , White, IN. ⁷
FIRST JUDICIAL SESSION

The first session of the Circuit Court for White County was held at the house of George A. Spencer, six miles southwest of Monticello near the center of the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 12, township 27 north, range 4 west. On the 17th of October, 1834, the presiding judge, John R. Porter, was absent; which fact threw the responsibility of the proceedings on the associates, James Barnes and Thomas Wilson. William Sill, father of Milton M. Sill, of Monticello, served as clerk, and John Wilson as sheriff. The grand jury consisted of Royal Hazelton (foreman), William Woods, James Johnson, Samuel Gray, Robert Barr, Aaron Hicks, Daniel Dale, Robert Hanna, John Roberts, John Ferguson, James Parker, Joseph James, Sr., Cornelius Sutton, William Kerr and Joseph Thompson.

A case of "malicious mischief" was the only matter brought to the attention of the court. It seems that Jere Bisher had tied something to the tail of one of his neighbor's fractious horses, and the court bound the offender over to the next term with security of $50 for his appearance. Then William P. Bryant, Andrew Ingraham, Aaron Fitch and William M. Jenners were sworn in as attorneys qualified to practice in the county, and the session was adjourned.

FIRST FULL COURT KEPT BUSY

At the second term of court, beginning April 17, 1835, also in Mr. Spencer's house, all the judges were present and a number of cases were brought before them. Mr. Spencer himself acted as bailiff, William Sill, clerk, and John Wilson, sheriff. Bisher's case of malicious mischief was at once taken up and the defendant was fined $5, and sentenced to the custody of the sheriff for the space of one minute, "the fine to go to the funds of the county seminary."

The grand jury returned the following indictments: Against Jacob Gates for retailing liquor without a license; against Joseph Gates for firing the prairie; against Royal Hazelton for marking hogs; against Jeremiah Bisher for trespass to land (Bisher instead of Gates seems to have been the real firebrand of the county); against William Keen for selling liquor to the Indians; against John Beaver and Luke Beaver for fighting and against William Farmer, D. Runion and S. Pharris for selling clocks without a license. The indictment against Mr. Gates was quashed; the jury found Mr. Hazelton and the Beavers not guilty; Mr. Bisher was fined $1.12 1/2 cents; and Messrs. Keen and Farmer pleaded guilty, the former being fined $5 and costs and the latter, $2 and costs.

Such court matters are adduced as much to throw rays of light upon the affairs of the young county and its people, as because they represent the legal business transacted at the first "full court" held within its borders. The house of Mr. Spencer, where the sittings were held, was in Big Creek Township, and the Circuit Court continued its sessions there until the autumn of 1836, when it adjourned permanently to the county seat, a courthouse then being in process of erection at Monticello.

9. Census in 1850 in District No. 130, White, IN. ² Jeremiah Bishir, farmer, 49, was living with wive Malinda, 28; Miles, 20; Emily, 18; Isaiah, 16; Jeremiah, 14; Malinda, 11; Mary, 9; Christopher, 7; Hannah, 3; and John, 1. Everyone was born in Indiana, except Jeremiah in Pennsylvania, and Miles in Ohio. Jeremiah's farm was worth $12,000.

10. Census in 1860 in Union Twp., White, IN. ⁸ Jeramiah Bisher, farmer 60, was living with Malinda, housekeeper, 40; Isaah, farm labor, 27; Mary, 21; Christopher, farm labor, 18; Hannah, 12; John, 11; Sarah, 8; Wm, 6; Albert, 5; Eli, 3; Jane, 2; and James, 6 months old when the census was recorded on 13 Jul 1860. Jeremiah was born in Pennsylvania, Malinda in Illinois and everyone else in Indiana. Jeremiah's farm was worth $40,000 and personal estate $22,150. Also in their home: Mary J. May, servant, 27, born in Virginia; and Wm Hofman, 19, farm labor, born in Indiana. The post office is Monticello.

11. Census in 1870 in Union Twp., White, IN. ⁹ Jeremiah Bisher, farmer, 70, was living with Harriet, 47, "keeping house"; John, 21; Albert, 13 [18?]; William, 17; Jane, 12; James, 10; and George, 9. Also: David Mise [Mose?], 17. Everyone was born in Indiana except Jeremiah in Pennsylvnaia, and Harriet in Ohio. The post office is Monticello.

12. Book: A Standard History of White County, Indiana, 1915. ¹⁰
Quite a number of settlers, most of them with their families, located in what is now Union Township before the county was organized, the most prominent of these being John Rothrock and his son, Robert; Peter Price, John Roberts, Reuben Stout, James Shafer, Jeremiah Bisher, Hans Erasmus Hiorth, Peter B. Smith, Melchi Gray, Matthew Hopper, Zebulon Sheetz; Samuel Gray, James Spencer, William Orr, John Orr, Mahion Fraser, Sr., Abraham Lowther, John Wilson, Richard Worthington, Henry Baum and George R. Bartley.

13. Book: A Standard History of White County, Indiana, 1915. ¹¹
JEREMIAH BISHER Among the old-timers who settled previous to the organization of the township, and whose name has already appeared, was Jeremiah Bisher. Even in his younger manhood he appears to have been rather an eccentric character; it will be remembered that he was brought before the Circuit Court, at its first session, charged with malicious mischief in tying the tail of one of his neighbor's fractious horses, thereby causing the animal to injure itself. But be survived that ordeal as well as many trials of a more serious nature incident to a resident of some forty-four years in Union Township. His death occurred on his large and comfortable homestead, four miles southwest of Monticello, in May, 1875, and his remains were buried in the old Kenton grave yard about a mile from his residence.

Jeremiah married Esther Millet, daughter of John Millet and Mary Moore, on 1 Nov 1826 in Mason, Warren, OH. (Esther Millet was born about 1807 in , , NY,¹ died about 1843 in , White, IN ¹ and was buried in Union Twp.: Old Kenton Graveyard, White, IN.)

Jeremiah next married Malinda Gillam, daughter of John M. Gillam and Mary Henderson. (Malinda Gillam was born on 1 Jan 1820 in Gillam Twp., Jasper, IN, died on 7 Feb 1861 in , White, IN and was buried in Union Twp.: Kenton Cemetery, White, IN.)