FERGUSON |
Isaac FERGUSON, father of Elizabeth (FERGUSON) DONHAM, was born about 1754 at Fort Pitt, Brownsville, Fayette County, PA. He was probably the son of James FERGUSON and Margaret as his name appears in James' will. James FERGUSON might have been the son of Thomas FERGUSON and Elizabeth LEE. James and Margaret also had children Henry, Ann, James, Zube, Martha, Nimrod, Thomas, and Venson FERGUSON. Many of the Ohio histories say that Thomas FERGUSON was the father of Isaac. That could be true, or it could have just been from changes in the family legend over time if Thomas was actually the grandfather.
Isaac FERGUSON was a ferryman and he fought in the American Revolution. He married about 1774 to Elizabeth LEEDOM, daughter of John LEEDOM and Letitia JONES. One history says, "[Isaac FERGUSON's] wife was Elizabeth LEEDOM, of memory fragrant in heroism in the stirring times of '76, when she carried messages for WASHINGTON that no man could deliver in safety."94
Isaac and Elizabeth had twelve children. Isaac died in November 1818 at New Richmond, Clermont County, OH. He was buried at the Family Cemetery in Clermont County. Elizabeth died sometime after 1818, probably also in Clermont County.
CHILDREN OF ISAAC FERGUSON & ELIZABETH LEEDOM
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1 NAME: Isaiah FERGUSON95
BORN: 24 Sep 1775 PLACE: Brownsville,,PA
DIED: 21 Oct 1851 PLACE: Pierce Twp,Clermont,OH
BUR.: 1851 PLACE: Family Cem,Clermont,OH
SPOUSE: Mary JOHN
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2 NAME: Hugh FERGUSON
BORN: Abt 1778 PLACE: Brownsville,,PA
DIED: 24 Jan 1862 PLACE: ,Clermont,OH
SPOUSE: Mary ARTHUR
MARR: 29 Nov 1805 PLACE: ,Clermont,OH
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3 NAME: Elizabeth FERGUSON
BORN: 21 Mar 1780 PLACE: Nottingham,Washington,PA
DIED: 6 Nov 1851 PLACE: ,Clermont,OH
SPOUSE: Abel DONHAM
MARR: 1800 PLACE: ,,OH
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4 NAME: Ruth FERGUSON
BORN: 13 Feb 1785 PLACE: Bryant's Station,Mason,KY
DIED: 1877 PLACE: ,Clay,IN
SPOUSE: Robert DONHAM
MARR: PLACE: ,Clermont,OH
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5 NAME: Nancy FERGUSON
BORN: 15 Jan 1783 PLACE: Brownsville,,PA
DIED: 22 Sep 1872 PLACE: New Richmond,Clermont,OH
SPOUSE: William LINDSEY /Colonel
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6 NAME: Isaac FERGUSON Jr.
BORN: Abt 1786 PLACE: ,,KY
DIED: 26 Apr 1844 PLACE: ,Fountain,IN
SPOUSE: Peggy ARMSTRONG
MARR: 15 Feb 1816 PLACE: ,Clermont,OH
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7 NAME: Zachariah FERGUSON
BORN: 16 Aug 1787 PLACE: Brownsville,,PA
DIED: 5 Sep 1843 PLACE: ,Union,IN
BUR.: PLACE: Sims Cem,,Indiana96
SPOUSE: Mary "Polly" JOHNS
MARR: 12 Jan 1802 PLACE: Greene Co.,Ohio
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8 NAME: Francis FERGUSON
BORN: Abt 1788 PLACE: ,,KY
DIED: PLACE: ,,OH
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9 NAME: Thomas FERGUSON
BORN: Abt 1790 PLACE: ,,KY
DIED: 18 Oct 1844 PLACE: ,Fountain,IN
SPOUSE: Margaret TOWNSLEY
MARR: 5 Jan 1832 PLACE: Fountain,,IN
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10 NAME: Sarah FERGUSON
BORN: Abt 1794 PLACE: ,,KY
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11 NAME: Leticia FERGUSON
BORN: Abt 1796 PLACE: ,Clermont,OH
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12 NAME: James FERGUSON
BORN: 21 Dec 1798 PLACE: ,Clermont,OH
DIED: 15 Apr 1868 PLACE: ,Fountain,IN
SPOUSE: Mary "Polly" DONHAM
MARR: 21 Sep 1823 PLACE: ,Clermont,OH97
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DESCENDENTS OF ISAAC FERGUSON & ELIZABETH LEEDOM
FOUR GENERATIONS, EXCLUDING THE DESCENDENTS OF
ABEL DONHAM & ELIZABETH FERGUSON
1 - Isaac FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1754 Brownsville, Fayette County, PA
DIED: Nov 1818 New Richmond, Clermont County, OH
BUR.: 1818 Family Cem, Clermont County, OH
sp- Elizabeth LEEDOM, BORN: Abt 1755 Bucks County, PA
MARR: Abt 1774 Western PA
DIED: Aft 1818 Clermont, OH
Dau of John LEEDOM & Letitia JONES
2 - Isaiah FERGUSON, BORN: 24 Sep 1775 Brownsville, Fayette County, PA
DIED: 21 Oct 1851 Pierce Twp, Clermont County, OH
BUR.: 1851 Family Cem, Clermont County, OH
sp- Mary JOHN
Dau of James JOHN
3 - Isaac FERGUSON /Squire
3 - James FERGUSON
3 - Zachariah FERGUSON
3 - Ira FERGUSON, BORN: 24 Nov 1818
sp- Nancy M. SHAW, BORN: 27 Feb 1820
MARR: 21 Jan 1841
Dau of John SHAW /Honorable
4 - Robert S. FERGUSON
4 - John Q. FERGUSON
3 - Jane FERGUSON
sp- Benjamin BEHYMER
3 - Nancy FERGUSON
sp- Washington WEST
3 - Elizabeth FERGUSON
2 - Hugh FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1780 Brownsville, Fayette County, PA
DIED: 24 Jan 1862 Clermont, OH
sp- Mary ARTHUR, BORN: 28 Aug 1785 Bedford, VA
MARR: 29 Nov 1805 Clermont County, OH
DIED: 3 Dec 1867 Monroe, Clermont County, OH
Dau of James ARTHUR Jr. & Rachel BROWN
3 - Isaac FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1806 OH
sp- Mary LINDSEY
MARR: 22 Aug 1830
4 - Elijah FERGUSON
4 - Hugh FERGUSON
4 - William Patterson FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1835 OH
sp- Debora
4 - Andrew McCaul FERGUSON
4 - Perry FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1839 IN
sp- Mary M., BORN: Abt 1841 IN
4 - James Jefferson FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1841
sp- Arthusa DARTING
sp- Maggie FARMER
4 - John Francis FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1844 IN
4 - Christopher Columbus FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1846 IN
DIED: Abt 1864
4 - Harrison FERGUSON
4 - Lafayette FERGUSON
3 - James FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1808
DIED: Abt 1841
sp- Nancy L. CORBLY
MARR: Jun 1837
DIED: 1841
4 - Julia C. FERGUSON
sp- Susan MITCHELL, BORN: 29 Jul 1829
MARR: 10 Sep 1841
4 - FERGUSON
3 - Zechariah FERGUSON, BORN: 31 Aug 1810
DIED: 22 Nov 1811
3 - Elizabeth FERGUSON, BORN: 31 Aug 1812
DIED: 15 Mar 1828
3 - William H. FERGUSON
sp- Margaret KING
MARR: 24 Apr 1846
3 - Nancy Ann FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1824
sp- Charles ROBB, BORN: Abt 1826 OH
MARR: 4 Feb 1847
4 - Catherine E. ROBB, BORN: Abt 1847 OH
4 - Mary L. ROBB, BORN: Abt 1850 OH
4 - Eva A. ROBB
sp- JOHNSON
3 - Francis FERGUSON, BORN: 27 Aug 1820 OH
DIED: 14 Apr 1861
3 - Melissa FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1825 OH
sp- Thomas Leaven NICHOLS
MARR: 8 Feb 1874
3 - Joseph FERGUSON, BORN: 22 Jan 1829 OH
DIED: 17 Apr 1862
3 - John FERGUSON
sp- Nancy Hodson NICHOLS
MARR: 7 Mar 1855
2 - Elizabeth FERGUSON, BORN: 21 Mar 1780 Nottingham, Washington, PA
DIED: 6 Nov 1851 Clermont, OH
sp- Abel DONHAM, BORN: 19 Aug 1777 Perth Amboy, Middlesex County, NJ
MARR: 1800 OH
DIED: 17 May 1853 Clermont, OH
BUR.: Love Family Cem, Clermont, OH
Son of Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. & Keziah CROSLEY
2 - Ruth FERGUSON, BORN: 13 Feb 1785 Bryant's Station, Mason County, KY
DIED: 1877 Clay, IN
sp- Robert DONHAM, BORN: 16 Feb 1782 Greene County, PA
MARR: Clermont, OH
DIED: Abt 1846 Clermont, OH
Son of Nathaniel DONHAM Jr. & Keziah CROSLEY
3 - John S. DONHAM, BORN: 1809 Clermont County, OH
DIED: 1868 Spencer, Owen County, IN
sp- Rachel FAGIN
4 - George J. DONHAM, BORN: 29 May 1834 Terre Haute, Vigo, IN
DIED: 19 Mar 1920 Wichita, KS
3 - Isaiah DONHAM, BORN: 12 May 1810 Clermont County, OH
DIED: 13 Jun 1913 Terre Haute, Vigo County, IN
BUR.: Christy Cem, Clay County, IN
sp- Martha Ann CROSLEY, BORN: Abt 1818 Clermont County, OH
MARR: 28 Feb 1833 Clermont County, OH
DIED: Aft 1895 Clay County, IN
BUR.: Christy Cem, Clay County, IN
Dau of John C. CROSLEY /Reverend & (unknown)
4 - Louisa DONHAM, BORN: Clay County, IN
DIED: Aft 1895
4 - I. H. DONHAM, BORN: Clay County, IN
DIED: Aft 1895 Clay County, IN
4 - H. Z. DONHAM, BORN: Clay County, IN
DIED: Aft 1895
4 - Thomas F. DONHAM, BORN: Clay County, IN
DIED: Aft 1895
3 - Nathaniel DONHAM, BORN: 17 Dec 1811 Clermont County, OH
DIED: 30 Aug 1849 Vigo County, IN
BUR.: Donham Cem, Vigo County, IN
sp- Mary Maria LEE, BORN: 2 Feb 1816 IN
MARR: 30 Jun 1833 Vigo County, IN
DIED: 16 Nov 1848 Vigo County, IN
BUR.: Donham Cem, Vigo County, IN
Dau of Henry LEE & Mary DONHAM
4 - Isaac Ferguson DONHAM, BORN: 8 Apr 1840 IN
DIED: 20 Jul 1919 Caldwell, Sumner County, KS
BUR.: Corzine Cem, Sumner County, KS
sp- Elizabeth DONHAM, BORN: 4 Sep 1840 Clermont County, OH
MARR: 31 Mar 1864 Clermont County, OH
DIED: 30 Apr 1898 Corbin, Sumner County, KS
BUR.: Corzine Cem, Sumner County, KS
Dau of Nathaniel DONHAM & Mary SWEM
sp- Jane PIERCE
MARR: 17 Nov 1904
3 - Isaac DONHAM, BORN: Abt 1813 Clermont County, OH
3 - Nancy DONHAM, BORN: Abt 1814 Clermont County, OH
3 - Zachariah DONHAM, BORN: Abt 1816 Clermont County, OH
3 - Thomas DONHAM, BORN: Abt 1817 Clermont County, OH
3 - Robert DONHAM, BORN: Abt 1820 Clermont County, OH
sp- Emeline BENNETT, BORN: Abt 1826
MARR: 28 Mar 1844 Clermont County, OH
3 - Eliza DONHAM, BORN: Abt 1820 Clermont County, OH
DIED: 13 Oct 1878 IN
sp- Stephen FAGIN
BORN: 1806 OH
MARR: 15 Dec 1831 Clermont County, OH
DIED: 1881 Clay, IN
Son of George FAGIN & Mary WOODRUFF
4 - Aaron FAGIN, BORN: 1818
DIED: 12 Sep 1854 IN
sp- Anna ELLIS
MARR: 1843 OH
4 - Amanda FAGIN, BORN: 13 Jun 1834 Clermont County, OH
sp- Reece JEFFERS, BORN: OH
Son of James F. JEFFERS & Margaret REECE
4 - Andrew Jackson FAGIN, BORN: 1836
DIED: 1863
BUR.: Conaway-Cade Cem, Clay County, IN
sp- Louisa MORRIS
MARR: 1860
4 - George Van Buren FAGIN, BORN: 16 May 1837
DIED: 17 Aug 1903
sp- Clarinda LEE, BORN: 1840
MARR: Vigo County, IN
DIED: 1863
Dau of David Sutton LEE & Anna A. FERRAL
sp- Margaret V. JEFFERS
Dau of Andrew J. JEFFERS & Nancy Jane GILBERT
4 - Ruth FAGIN
4 - Cerilda J. FAGIN
sp- Early PHILLIPS
4 - Hannah M. FAGIN
4 - Anna Eliza FAGIN
4 - Nancy E. FAGIN
sp- Nathaniel BEENER
4 - Isabella Caroline FAGIN
sp- David H. FOULKE
4 - Robert W. FAGIN, BORN: 1852
DIED: 1882
sp- Nancy STAGGS
3 - Mary DONHAM, BORN: Abt 1822 Clermont County, OH
3 - Ruth DONHAM, BORN: Abt 1824 Clermont County, OH
sp- Jonathan R. CORBLEY
MARR: 3 Sep 1845 Clermont County, OH
2 - Nancy FERGUSON, BORN: 15 Jan 1783 Brownsville, Fayette County, PA
DIED: 22 Sep 1872 New Richmond, Clermont County, OH
sp- William LINDSEY /Colonel, BORN: 1782
DIED: 1864
Son of Hezekiah LINDSEY & Elizabeth FISHER
3 - John LINDSEY
3 - William LINDSEY Jr.
3 - Isaiah LINDSEY
3 - Hezekiah LINDSEY
3 - Ira LINDSEY
3 - (female) LINDSEY
sp- David DONHAM
3 - (female) LINDSEY
sp- Martin BEHYMER
3 - (female) LINDSEY
sp- Steven WHITE
3 - (female) LINDSEY
sp- Andrew HIXON
3 - (female) LINDSEY
sp- John B. DAY
3 - (female) LINDSEY
sp- Peter MYERS
2 - Isaac FERGUSON Jr., BORN: Abt 1786 KY
DIED: 26 Apr 1844 Fountain County, IN
sp- Peggy ARMSTRONG
MARR: 15 Feb 1816 Clermont County, OH
2 - Zachariah FERGUSON, BORN: 16 Aug 1777 Brownsville, Fayette Co., PA
DIED: 5 Sep 1843 Union, IN
BUR.: Sims Cem, Indiana
sp- Mary "Polly" JOHNS
MARR: 12 Jan 1802 Greene County, OH
2 - Francis FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1788 KY
DIED: OH
2 - Thomas FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1790 KY
DIED: 18 Oct 1844 Fountain County, IN
sp- Margaret TOWNSLEY
MARR: 5 Jan 1832 Fountain County, IN
2 - Sarah FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1794 KY
2 - Leticia FERGUSON, BORN: Abt 1796 Clermont County, OH
2 - James FERGUSON, BORN: 21 Dec 1798 Clermont County, OH
DIED: 15 Apr 1868 Fountain County, IN
sp- Mary "Polly" DONHAM, BORN: OH
MARR: 21 Sep 1823 Clermont County, OH
Dau of John DONHAM & Sallie JENNINGS
3 - James FERGUSON, BORN: OH
sp- Polly Mary JENNINGS, BORN: OH
3 - Mary Elizabeth FERGUSON, BORN: 4 Sep 1836 OH
DIED: 7 Jan 1881 Wise County, TX
sp- Jeremiah Myer WYATT, BORN: 17 Jun 1826 Warren County, OH
MARR: 1 Apr 1852 Clay County, IN
DIED: 30 Aug 1879 Wise County, TX
BUR.: Wise County, TX
Son of Dickerson WYATT & Jane ROZZIEL
sp- Olive
MARR: Bef 1850 Fountain County, IN
sp- Rhoda A. CUSTER
MARR: 29 May 1868 Fountain County, IN
sp- Lydia BEAMER
The following account of the life and family of Isaac FERGUSON is from pages 176-177 of the History of Clermont County, Ohio, published in Philadelphia, by Louis H. Everts Co., in 1880. Isaac FERGUSON's "father," Thomas FERGUSON, might actually have been the grandfather.
The ancestors of Isaac FERGUSON emigrated to America from Ireland early in the eighteenth century, and were of the house of Fergus. His father, Thomas FERGUSON, was an early settler on the Monongahela River, eighteen miles above the French Fort Duquesne, one of the first lodgments of civilized life west of the Alleghenies. The great valley of the Mississippi was first explored by the French, who in 1730, or near that year, built a line of forts from New Orleans to Quebec, and ascending the Ohio, erecting one at the head of that river, where Pittsburgh now is, which received the above name. The English colonists along the Atlantic coast were jealous of the encroachments of the French upon what they regarded as their territory, and formed an association called the "Ohio Company," composed of Virginia and English merchants, whose object it was to trade with the Indians for furs. The company obtained a grant of six hundred thousand acres of land on the river Ohio, and when it came to possess it they found among the persons residing there Thomas FERGUSON. Later he was in their employ and engaged in their trading expeditions. As they lived so remote from the settlements, FERGUSON and his neighbors were compelled to procure their "store goods," such as nails, wares, kitchen utensils, etc. (calicoes and other species of dry goods were then unknown), at Philadelphia or Baltimore, and convey them across the mountains on pack-horses, as no roads had yet been built. In this enterprise engaged Isaac and Henry FERGUSON (sons of Thomas), who, with a number of pack-horses, proceeded to Baltimore, at that time the great mart for supplying the outposts of civilization. Each horse had a bell on him, and every evening they were gathered together and relieved of their burden. The way led through dense wildernesses and across streams which had to be swum; Indians had to be braved and wild beasts faced, and all sorts of adventures had to be met; but these two courageous young men made seventy-two trips in all, supplying their neighbors with such things as could be procured only in this manner.
The Governor of Canada, in turn, becoming jealous of the English settlements, ordered its traders to be seized and opened communications between Lake Erie and Fort Duquesne. Along this line he stationed troops and built fortifications, being determined to break up the trade of the "Ohio Company" and hold the country. These were among the prefatory events which led to the "French and Indian War," or those long years of hostilities between the French and British which were fanned into open rupture in 1756, when war was actually begun. In this struggle Thomas FERGUSON was a brave soldier, and was with WASHINGTON (at that time a colonel at the age of twenty-two) at the "Great Meadows," in the attack by the French and Indians, where the battle lasted from eleven in the forenoon until eight in the evening. Overpowered and outnumbered, with ammunition exhausted, the English were surrendered to the French commander, Count De VILLIERS, who allowed them to return to their homes.
Thomas FERGUSON was also one of the Monongahela settlers who participated in the historical battle which lead to the defeat of Gen. BRADDOCK, July 9, 1756, and had three bullet-holes in his clothes, his hair badly singed, and his powder-horn shot to pieces. In the Revolutionary war Isaac FERGUSON served under WASHINGTON in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and fought gallantly at Brandywine, Princeton, Germantown, and other hotly-contested battles for independence.
Soon after the close of the Revolutionary war Isaac FERGUSON moved with his family westward, and in 1784 located for a time at Limestone (now Maysville), Ky. The boat in which he and his family and some other immigrants descended the Ohio was an old-time pirogue, which the wily savages frequently attempted to capture and daily fired into. It was a common thing for the Indians to compel white prisoners whom they had captured to go down to the bank of the river and hail passing boats, telling tales of woe and uttering tearful entreaties to be taken aboard. Many a boat was thus unsuspectingly allured to the shore, plundered, and its passengers tomahawked and scalped. Then, again, very frequently persons in real distress and suffering asking for relief at the hands of the descending boats had to be unwillingly passed by, owing to the proximity of the Indians or fear of capture.
In 1791, Isaac FERGUSON was one of the little band of settlers about Limestone and Washington, Ky., who, under KENTON and DOWNING, crossed the Ohio, tracked the Indians with their stolen horses to the east fork, between Williamsburgh and Marathon, and there had a severe night-battle, as is elsewhere in this book narrated. In 1795 he settled on the Kentucky shore of the Ohio River, about fifteen miles above Cincinnati, where he lived but a year, coming to the then Northwest Territory in the spring of 1796. He located on a fine tract of land several miles below New Richmond, in the present county of Clermont, where he established and kept in operation many years what was widely known as "Ferguson's Ferry," the first in that part of the State and in its day a famous crossing-place.
He died on the farm he had opened to civilization in 1818, leaving a wife, seven sons, and five daughters. He was a noble pioneer, of a hardy stock, and of lineage reared among the civil wars of Great Britain, which were so intense at times that they threatened to blot out that now prosperous kingdom. Isaac FERGUSON as a boy saw the colonists fighting the savage Indians and their mercenary French allies; as a young man he participated most honorably in the struggle for independence of the American colonies; in ripe manhood he was a pioneer in Kentucky; and in his later years one of the very earliest settlers of Clermont, where his last days of a long and eventful life were ended, at a ripe age, which had been full of checkered adventures, but untarnished in honor and character.
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