My Genealogy Hound

JAMES WYANT. The results of persevering industry and good management are seen in the success which has attended the efforts of the above-named gentleman, while the results of an honest and upright life are equally well shown in the esteem and confidence which he receives from his fellow-men. He is an old settler in Moorefield Township, Clark County, residing on section 23, where he owns two hundred, three and a half acres of productive land. It bears the improvements usually made by a man of enterprise and the air of neatness and order which prevails is an added attraction. Mr. Wyant also owns property in the city of Springfield.

The natal day of the subject of this notice was April 25, 1842, and his native place Frederick County, Md. He is of German ancestry and a son of Jacob and Susannah (Ridenour) Wyant, who were natives of the same State as himself. In 1837 the family removed to Ohio, remaining for some six months in Miami County, after which they settled in Champaign County. In 1846, they again changed their residence, locating upon the farm which our subject now owns and occupies. Their journey from their native State was accomplished with two teams and wagons, over the National Pike the transit consuming twenty-one days. The family comprised father, mother and eight children. They stopped wherever night overtook them, camping in the wagons, or enjoying the occasional hospitality of the settlers at whose homes they had chanced to arrive. The father died in 1851, and the mother afterward married John Wyant and went to Warsaw, Ind., where she breathed her last.

The subject of this notice was reared to man’s estate amid the scenes of pioneer life, and has from boyhood been engaged in agriculture. He received his education in the schools of Maryland and Ohio, his attendance in the latter State covering a period of but forty-two days. He is largely self-educated, his school privileges having but laid the foundation and developed in him a love for knowledge, and his mind has been stored with information on general topics gleaned from the public press and the various books which he has perused.

In November, 1851, Mr. Wyant led to the hymeneal altar Miss Susan Dennis, an estimable lady of English descent and a Virginian by birth. She is a daughter of Daniel Dennis, and careful training early developed the qualities which have made her so useful a companion and so respected a member of the community. Their marriage has been blessed by the birth of the following children: Catherine is the wife of D. J. Nysduander, of Toledo; John resides in this county; William J., in German Township; Edward, in Michigan; James, in German Township; Emma is a teacher; Clive P., completes the family circle.

Mr. Wyant can recall many scenes of pioneer life and relate much regarding the development of the country which he has seen grow from a comparatively primitive condition into its present state of high civilization and development. He has borne his part in the local movements which tended to this result; he has served as School Director and Clerk for years, creditably performing the official duties which devolved upon him. Believing in the principles laid down in the Democratic platform, he gives his vote to the candidates who are pledged to support them. He and his wife hold membership in the Reformed Church at Tremont, in which organization he is now an Elder and has been a Deacon for a number of years. They have many friends, surrounded by whom they are enjoying the fruits of their industry and useful lives.