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- "History of Ashland County, Ohio", Geo. Wm. Hill, M.D., William Bro., 1880, pp. 205-206 Peter Van Nordstrand, Sr. was born in New Jersey, and after the close of the Revolutionary War emigrated to Westmoreland County, PA. His ancestors were from Holland. In 1816 he came to Clearcreek Township, Richland (now Ashland) County and located on section thirty-five, where he deceased in 1817, aged about fifty years. He had been a neighbor to the Baileys and Brytes in Westmoreland County, and was inticed to settle in the wilds of Clearcreek because of the emigration to that region. A brother-in-law, Archibald Gardner, located in Mifflin on the present site of Windsor in the spring of 1811 and forted at Reams in 1812. Mr. Van Nordstrand's sons were John, who subsequently removed to, and deceased, in Iowa; Isaac, who also located in Iowa; and Peter, who continues to reside in Clearcreek Township. The daughters were: Elizabeth, wife of Abraham Bebout; Anna, wife of William Andews; Rachel, wife of David Urie; Effie, wife of Alexander McCready, Eleanor, wife of James McCool, Margaret, wife of Michael Shoup; Mary, wife of David Bryte; and Sarah, wife of John Mykrantz. Peter married Nancy Shaw and is now about seventy-two years of age. He states that when his father landed in Clearcreek, there were but eight or ten families in the township. The first schoolhouse in his part of the township was a little cabin of round logs, erected on the farm of the late Abraham Huffman, in 1817. The children of the following householders attended, Mr. Robert Nelson being the first teacher: Abraham Huffman, John Brown, Andrew Stevison, Robert Ralston, Widow Triegle, David McKinny, Rev. William Matthews, Levi and Thomas Brink, Widow Mary Van Nordstrand, and the children of Robert Nelson. The country was in its primitive condition, game was plenty, and the Indians from Sandusky hunted annually in the forests of Clearcreek for a number of years after the arrival of the first settlers. They were harmless, and rarely visited the cabins of the pioneers, except when they were driven to do so from pinching hunger. Peter Van Nordstrand, Jr., occupied the old homestead until about 1872, when his wife deceased. He is now residing with a son-in-law. He has been an exemplary member of the Christion Church for over thirty years. His wife was also a devoted member of the same church. It is rarely that men, in a single community, witness the changes that have taken place within this county in the last sixty years. From an almost unbroken forest, the hills and valleys of thes county have been reduced to cultivation, and every township teams with abundance. Schools, villages, and towns have sprung into being, as if by magic. From a few hundred the inhabitants of the county have multiplied until our population reaches over twenty-three thousand. The Indian that roamed over the hills and along the fertile valleys of this county, has long since removed to the far west, and his race will, ere long, become extinct.
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My Genealogy Data
Abt 1772 - 1817 (~ 45 years)