Fisher Family History, 2nd Generation

Samuel Martin Fisher^Δ (1815-1892)

11. Samuel Martin Fisher^Δ was born in Pennsylvania in 1815. He married Rhuphema in Hancock County, Indiana about 1835 and had six children. A few months after Rhuphema's death, Samuel remarried to his brother's widow, Sophia Pritchard². Sophia died a year and a half later and then Samuel remarried to Nancy P. Carter a few months after that.

Samuel Martin married Rhuphema, a native of Clinton County, Ohio, around 1835 in Hancock County, Indiana, where they bought property in Vernon Township. Their first child was born there in 1837 and soon after the family moved about 55 miles west to Madison County to a farm adjoining the widower George Hunter.^{[Cen 1840]} Soon after George married the widow Permilla (Davis) Pritchard¹, the mother of his future sister-in-law and later wife, Sophia Pritchard².

The Fishers next relocated to Rock Island County, Illinois, probably by 1846, where the next three children were born. Between 1847 and 1850, the family moved across the Mississippi River to Fredonia Township, Louisa County, Iowa, where their sixth child was likely born.^{[Cen 1850]} By 1858 the family moved about 340 miles southwest to Nehama County, Kansas; and ultimately in 1866 the moved another 100 miles west to White Rock Creek, Republic County, Kansas. Samuel was the first to settle the White Rock Creek area along with his wife, five children, and one grandchild.

In October 1866, Samuel, some visiting friends of his from Nemaha County, and other White Rock Creek settlers, went on a hunting trip through Holmwood and then southwest from Whitestone. There they were ambushed by a band of eight Indians. Outnumbered, Samuel offered no resistance and allowed the Indians to make off with surplus provisions, revolvers, and revolver ammunition. The Indians left them with a little food and their rifles and warned them not to hunt in that area as it was Indian hunting ground.

Glad to escape so easily, the hunting party returned to the previous night's camp but during the next morning, a lone Indian rode up and took a fancy to John Marling's powder horn. The Indian decided it would make a nice gift and decided to take the powder horn much to Marling's chagrin. John Marling three months earlier had his wife dragged away with a rope around her neck and assaulted by Indians and was therefore unwilling to give any Indian anything. Samuel Fisher feared creating unnecessary trouble and so advised John Marling to surrender the powder horn. John did so. The Indian took the powder horn, wheeled his pony around to leave but suddenly turned and shot Samuel in the back. Before Marling could fire back, Samuel pleaded not to return fire.

Samuel carried the bullet, and even a measure of respect for the Indians to his grave. He treasured a complete Indian suit and huge feather headdress which was given to him by other Indians.

In 1871, Samuel and Rhuphema's son, James T., died at the age of 25. That same year, Samuel's younger brother, King David died across the state line in Nebraska.

Rhuphema died on August 31, 1885, and was buried at the Persinger Cemetery in Republic County.

Four months later, Samuel remarried his brother King David's widow, Sophia³, on December 22, 1885, in Loup City, Sherman County, Nebraska. They lived in Republic County but this marriage only lasted a year and a half before Sophia died.

Samuel's farm was reportedly located near Otter Creek and present day Pawnee Lane (Road 510) in Republic County (6th Prime Meridian, Township 2 South, Range 5 West, W½ of NW¼ of Section 5, and also the E½ of NE¼ of Section 6, near the state line).^[Grave] (This is lies to the south of Granite Road about 5 miles WSW of the city of Republic, and 2 miles due north of White Rock Cemetery.)

Sophia (Pritchard) Fisher³ died on May 17, 1887, while in her 60s. She was buried in Republic County, probably on her husband's farm.^[Grave]

Once again, Samuel was remarried by year's end, this time to Nancy P. Carter on September 13, 1887. They wed in Republic County.

Samuel moved to the tri-state area of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as did his niece, Ellen C. (Fisher) Pound, sometime between 1887 and 1891.

Samuel Martin Fisher died in November 1892 at the age of 77 years in Benton County, Arkansas. He is reportedly buried at Stone Chapel Cemetery in the Flat Woods area southeast of Southwest City, McDonald County, Missouri.

Catharine (Fisher) Garrison^Δ (1817-)

12. Catharine Fisher^Δ was born in 1817 in Pennsylvania. She married Elvy Garrison on March 28, 1833, in either Clinton County, Ohio, or Vernon Township, Hancock County, Indiana. They had at least nine children:

The Garrison family settled in Indiana by around 1835 where they were noted in both the 1840 and 1850 censuses in Vernon Township, Hancock County. By the 1860 census, they resettled in Batavia, Des Moines Township, Jefferson County, Iowa, where her brother King David, sister Mary Ann (Fisher) Parsons, and their families had settled in 1850 and 1851, respectively.^{[Cen 1860]}

Catharine was present at the death of her brother, King David, in Nebraska on July 12, 1871.

Elvy Garrison died on August 29, 1888, at about the age of 76.

King David Fisher² (1819-1871)

13. King David Fisher² was born on February 19, 1819, in Clinton County, Ohio. He stood about 6' 6" tall. King married Sophia Pritchard³, a native of Indiana in 1840 or 1841. They had at least nine children, probably 12, born in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska:

Malugani Children

	Name	Birth	Death	Age
131.	John Jackson Fisher3	6 Jan 1843	8 May 1906	(63)
132.	Mary C. Fisher	29 Mar 1845	Bef. 1871	(<26)
133.	Isaac Fisher	10 May 1847	(21 Dec 1866)	(19)
134.	Sylvester FisherΔ	12 Nov 1849	11 Jan 1889	(39)
135.	Sarah M. Fisher	12 Nov 1849	15 Dec 1883	(34)
136.	Ellen C. FisherΔ	2 Jun 1852	12 Jan 1899	(46)
137.	David W. Fisher	(1854-1855)	Bef. 1871	(<17)
138.	Frederick P. Fisher	22 Jan 1857	Bef. 1871	--
139.	Theodore William FisherΔ	20 Jun 1859	22 Nov 1925	(66)
13A.	Samuel M. FisherΔ	5 Aug 1861	(1885-1897)	(24-36)
13B.	Ira H. FisherΔ	1 Apr 1863	3 Nov 1938	(75)
13C.	Robert A. Fisher	9 Dec 1865	--	--

As a young man, King bought 40 acres in the SW¼ of the NE¼ of (Township 17 North), Range 6 East, Section 10, in Vernon Township, Hancock County, Indiana, in 1836. His father owned property to the north, northeast, and southeast in the same section.

King is said to have met his wife, Sophia Pritchard, near Louisville, Kentucky. They were wed in 1840 or 1841 and began their family in Illinois in 1843 with the birth of their first son, John Jackson. By 1846, the family moved to Indiana where the next four children were born.

King David allegedly left home to follow the Gold Rush to California but apparently returned to relocate to Batavia, Des Moines Township, Jefferson County, Iowa by the time of the 1850 census, along with his sisters Catharine (Fisher) Garrison, Mary Ann (Fisher) Parsons, and their families. Here they resided through the 1860 census until 1862 when the family moved again, this time to Big Sandy, Hobbs Precinct, Jefferson County in the Nebraska Territory—the heart of Pawnee territory—and homesteaded in the center of Section 9, Township 2 North, Range 2 West. Son John homesteaded in the northeast part of the same section. The family was run off the homestead in the summer of 1867 by Indians, ironically the same year that Nebraska gained statehood. It was probably in this attack that King David's second eldest son Isaac was killed. The Fisher family retreated east and resettled temporarily in Tarkio, Atchison County, Missouri for two years.

On June 1, 1869, King mustered in as a founding member and First Corporal (then at the age of 50) of the Nebraska Cavalry Militia, First Regiment, Company A, at Fort Butler to defend against Indian raids such as the one that drove his family out in 1867. He mustered along with three privates: Sylvester, age 19 (his son); James, age 24 (likely his nephew); and William, age 17 (likely his nephew and James' brother).

In 1870 a company of regular Army was stationed to the north at Kiowa which relieved Company A. At that time many soldiers took up claims in central and southern Thayer County, which likely prompted King's move from Big Sandy to Hebron. King homesteaded on Section 9 of Township 2 North, Range 2 West.

King David Fisher died of “lung fever” (or perhaps typhoid) in a dug-out on July 12, 1871, in Hebron, Thayer County, Nebraska. King David, by request, was buried on the homestead on a hill facing north overlooking the Little Blue River and the Oregon Trail. The hill had been a lookout for marauding Indians and lay between two springs (one known as Avalon Springs and later renamed Corliss Springs). King chose his final resting place so that he would never be thirsty. King Fisher's sister and son noted that he had joked with settlers of the area that they would have to shoot someone to start a graveyard—and he was the first of the group to die in Hebron.

Some say the tombstone originally contained the description “1st Sergeant, Fort Butler” but if so no trace remains. Furthermore, a Hebron poet by the name of G. W. Wasson penned a 22 verse poem to commemorate King Fisher, part of which reads:

Another contemporary of King Fisher's was D. W. Hendershot, among the early settlers of Hebron, wrote to his grandchildren recalling:

Among King Fisher's estate was a rifle named “Black Leg.” King had broken the stock when he slipped and fell on the frozen Little Blue River. and patched the stock with a piece of brass. The rifle was passed to King's second youngest son, Ira who bagged his first elk around the Loup and Dismal rivers using “Black Leg” and later put it on display at the North Platte courthouse.

After King

King's widow, Sophia received her patent (#1371) for 160 acres on February 7, 1876, but later moved to Clear Creek, Sherman County, in central Nebraska, by the 1880 census along with her three youngest sons and the families of her two eldest sons, John and Sylvester. Sophia remained in Clear Creek into 1885^{[Cen 1885]} when her brother-in-law Samuel's wife died in August 1885 to the south in Republic County, Kansas. Sophia and Samuel married on December 22, 1885, in Loup City, Sherman County, and lived in Republic County. This marriage only lasted a year and a half before Sophia died.

Sophia (Pritchard) Fisher³ died on May 17, 1887, while in her 60s. She was buried in Republic County.

King Fisher Legacy

Kingfisher creek, township, and county, in Oklahoma, are said to be named for King David Fisher who camped along the creek in the days before the Chisholm Trail crossed through.

Elizabeth (Fisher) Miller (1821-<1868)

14. Elizabeth Fisher was born in 1821 in Clinton County, Ohio. She married Michael N. Miller and died sometime before her father, who died in 1868.

Mary Ann (Fisher) Parsons (1824-1864)

15. Mary Ann Fisher was born in 1824 in Clinton County, Ohio. She married Andrew Jackson Parsons on July 27, 1845, in Hancock County, Indiana. They had as many as six children:

The Parsons family moved west from Indiana to Iowa by around 1851, where Mary Ann's parents and brother King David had resettled the year before. They later made a brief venture into Kansas where Augusta was born around 1857, but returned to Iowa by 1860 and settled near Mary Ann's sister Catharine (Fisher) Garrison and brother King David near Batavia in Des Moines Township, Jefferson County.^{[Cen 1860]} Her parents lived west of the county line in Wapello County.

Mary Ann (Fisher) Parsons died on November 16, 1864, in Wapello County, Iowa. She was about 40 years old. She is buried at the Ashland Cemetery in Wapello County.

Fred Fisher (1825-)

1X. Fred Fisher was born about 1825 in Ohio. He married a woman named Mary in 1849 or 1850 and lived next to David K. Fisher. Based on this and his birth place, Fred is possibly an additional brother of King David Fisher, however, he is was not named in David Fisher's will.

Sarah Ellen (Fisher Davis) Helvie^Δ (1827-1876)

16. Sarah Ellen Fisher^Δ was reportedly born on January 19, 1828, in Clinton County, Ohio. She married William Davis in Hancock County, Indiana, on July 28, 1845, one day after her sister Mary Ann married. Sarah and William had at least six children before William's death. Sarah afterward remarried to George Perris Helvie on May 7, 1870, in Hancock County, Indiana. He had five children from a previous marriage and they had one more daughter together:

Sarah Ellen remarried to George Perris Helvie on May 7, 1870, in Hancock County, Indiana^{[Mar 1870]}, and settled in Huntsville, Madison County, Indiana, about 15 miles north of Hancock County. There she and daughter Malissa June lived with George's four children. A 4-year-old boy, H. F. Adams, also lived with the blended family.^{[Cen 1870]} The following year, Sarah Ellen gave birth to their daughter Levada at the age of 43.

Sarah Ellen (Fisher Davis) Helvie died on February 18, 1876, in Indiana. She was 48 years old.

After Sarah's death, daughter Harriett and her husband William Henry Davis adopted daughter Levada as their own daughter and lived in Chester Township, Wabash County, Indiana, by 1880.^{[Cen 1880]}

John J. Fisher^Δ (1832-1891)

17. John J. Fisher^Δ was born on January 20, 1832, in Clinton County, Ohio. He married Lurena A. Martin and had six children. After Lurena died between 1864 and 1865, John remarried to the widow Mary Ann (Yearwood) Harkness, a native of Georgia, and fathered two more children:

By the 1860 census, probably as early as 1855, the Fisher family had settled in Dennison, Pawnee Territory, Nebraska. At the time he was enumerated next to his next younger brother Sylvester.

Lurena A. (Martin) Fisher died on December 3, 1865, at the young age of 31 years. Her three surviving children were only between the ages of 1 and 7 years old. Lurena is buried at the Pawnee City Cemetery in Pawnee County, Nebraska.

Only two months after Lurena's death, John remarried to the widow Mary Ann (Yearwood) Harkness on February 8, 1866. He legally took responsibility for her son George Washington Harkness. They afterward moved to Morris Township, Sullivan County, Missouri, by 1870.^{[Cen 1870]}

John J. Fisher reportedly died on January 16, 1891, four days before his 59th birthday. He was buried in Riggs Cemetery, Rosalia, Whitman County, Washington. His son-in-law, Francis M. Layton, was buried with him 18 years later.

Sylvester Theodore Fisher, Sr.^Δ (1833-1897)

18. Sylvester Theodore Fisher, Sr.^Δ was born on December 4, 1833, in Clinton County, Ohio. He married Sarah Marie Parkhurst, a native of Indiana, on December 14, 1853, in Wapello County, Iowa. The had as many as 16 children!

Sarah Marie Parkhurst was born May 31, 1835, and married Sylvester in Wapello County, Iowa, on December 14, 1853, as recorded in their family Bible. There they had their first two children but by 1858 the family moved to Marysville, Marshall County, Kansas where their third child was born. In 1859 the family moved north into what is now Pawnee County, Nebraska and were enumerated in the 1860 census at Dennison, Pawnee Territory, next to Sylvester's next older brother John who had moved there perhaps as early as 1855.^{[Hobson, Cen 1860]}

In 1868 Sylvester moved one mile east of Liberty, Gage County, Nebraska, to Section 36, Township 2, Range 8 East. Here he owned a farm of 320 acres with 100 acres under cultivation and remained there the rest of his life.^[Hobson]

Sylvester was over 6 feet tall, a common characteristic of the Fishers, and had a large beard. He was a very good shot and hunted alone, sometimes for days, to supply meat for the family. He was a friend to all including Indians who still roamed the area.

Sylvester Theodore Fisher died on September 26, 1897, at the age of 63.

Sarah Marie (Parkhurst) Fisher died four months later on January 4, 1898. Both are buried in the Liberty Cemetery where a large marker identifies their graves.

Years later, son Ira organized and initiated a series of annual Fisher family reunions for his father's descendants that ran from 1928 until 1942 in Nebraska, Kansas, and Arkansas.

Eliza Jane (Fisher) Parkhurst^Δ (1837-1903)

19. Eliza Jane Fisher^Δ was born April 16, 1837, in Hancock County, Indiana. She married Benjamin Franklin Parkhurst, the brother of her next elder brother Sylvester's wife, on August 25, 1855, and had nine children:

Parkhurst Children

	Name	Birth	Death	Age
191.	David S. Parkhurst	29 Aug 1856	(> 1870)	(> 14)
192.	Nancy E. Parkhurst	2 May 1859	1898	(39)
193.	Benjamin C. F. Parkhurst	11 Oct 1861	(> 1870)	(> 9)
194.	Lavada T. Parkhurst	20 Jan 1865	1 Jul 1866	(1)
195.	Ulysses S. G. Parkhurst	22 Mar 1868	(> 1870)	(> 2)
196.	Arminda M. Parkhurst	12 Jun 1871	28 Sep 1875	(4)
197.	Emery Frank ParkhurstΔ	27 May 1874	(> 1920)	(> 46)
198.	Minnie Belle Parkhurst	6 May 1877	20 Oct 1878	(1)
199.	Inez Parkhurst	16 Oct 1880	10 Sep 1955	(74)

Benjamin Franklin Parkhurst was born April 3, 1837, and served in the Civil War. He died June 6, 1897, at age 60.

Eliza Jane (Fisher) Parkhurst died six years later on June 18, 1903, at the age of 65.

Melissa Fisher (~1864-~1882)

1A. Melissa Fisher was born about 1864 in Wapello County, Iowa. She was the first born of her father's second marriage to Nancy (Bowles) Rickey. Melissa died about 1882 at around the young age of 17.

Isaac Fisher (~1865)

1B. Isaac Fisher was born on January 19, 1866, in Wapello County, Iowa. He married Alice Belle Littlefield and had at least one daughter:

Wilbur Fisher (1867-1927)

1C. Wilbur Fisher was born August, 14, 1867, in Eldon, Wapello County, Iowa. He married Bertha Letticia Dunn on April 2, 1890, and had 5 children:

Bertha Letticia Fisher was born August 23, 1872, in Birmingham, Van Buren County, Iowa. She was raised outside of Birmingham at a place called “Turkey Scratch.”

Wilbur Fisher died July 20, 1927, in Ashland, Wapello County, Iowa. He was 59 years old.

Bertha Letticia (Dunn) Fisher died on what would have been her 59th wedding anniversary on April 2, 1949. She was sleeping in her yard at the time.