Andrew
Minard
(1827- ? )
Andrew
Minard is thought to have been born in 1827 near Scio, Harrison County, OH, the
son of Solomon and Rachel (Little) Minard
Sr. He was a pioneer
settler of western Ohio, Illinois and Iowa.
On Aug. 31, 1848, in Tuscarawas County, OH, Andrew married Mary Ann Rummel (1824-1894). She was three years older than her husband. They are known to have had at least two children -- Jennie Miner and an unidentified son, and perhaps others.
The federal census of 1850 shows the Minards residing in Goshen Twp., Tuscarawas County, with Andrew employed as a carpenter. At that time, they had no children. The census-taker spelled their name as "Miner."
The Minards were close with their relatives of the Rummel, Smith and Little families. Mary Ann's sister and brother-in-law, Sarah (Rummel) and John Wesley Smith. (Andrew Minard and John W. Smith also were cousins -- their mothers, who were Littles, were sisters.)
At the end of November 1853, Andrew is believed to have purchased 40 acres of land in Van Wert County, OH. The tract was generally near where his uncles Burget, Henry and John Minerd Jr. lived, and was in Section 13, Township 3 South, Range 2 East. To finance the purchase, he took on a mortgage from George W. Mees. The following year, on May 31, 1854, Andrew and Mary Ann sold the tract for a profit of nearly eight percent.
The Minards then migrated further west to Illinois, settling in Atkinson, Henry County, along with the Smiths, who had arrived in 1855. They were there in 1856, along with Mary Ann's relatives George and John Rummel, as mentioned in the book, The History of Atkinson Township and Village of Atkinson, printed in 1885 and republished on Rootsweb.
By 1860, when the federal census again was enumerated, the
Minards and Smiths were next-door neighbors in Atkinson. Andrew's wealth at the
time was estimated at $2,500, as compared to his brother in law's $300. Perhaps
he owned significant real estate which set his value at such a high number.
Andrew at some point pushed westward again to Iowa, locating their home near Clarence, Dayton Twp., Jones County. Seen here is an undated, rare old postcard view of the nearby Wapsie River Valley, taken from High Bluff, near the town of Anamosa, Jones County. Note the rolling countryside and the lush, green river valley to which Andrew had migrated.
At
some point, Andrew's younger brother Clenon
came for a visit from Ohio, and the two brothers had their photograph taken together
at Miller's studio in Anamosa. The photograph portrait exists today, and is seen
elsewhere on this page. In the view Andrew sits at right, and Clenon at left. It's one of the few
hard artifacts of
Andrew's life found to date.
By the census of 1870, the Minards had moved again within Iowa, to Fremont Twp., Cedar County. Their next-door neighbor was Andrew's brother, Civil War veteran Nathan W. Minard. The family remained in Cedar County for many generations.
When the federal census was taken in 1880, Andrew was described as a "retired farmer" despite the fact that he was only age 53. Mary Ann was listed as "keeping house," and in their home was 21-year-old daughter Jennie.
Sadly, Mary Ann passed away at age 70 on Jan. 18, 1894. She was buried at Olin Cemetery in Rome Twp., Jones County. It's believed that her grave is marked.
Other family members buried in Olin Cemetery are Ulysses Minard (died at age 4 months in 1868); William Edward Miner (1930); and Harold W. Miner, a soldier in World War I who was killed just before his 22nd birthday, at the horrific battle of the Argonne Forest in France.
For Little family information, contact researcher Sue Sohn.
Copyright © 2002, 2005 Mark A. Miner