John Railsback also known as Johannes Rehlsbach
Johannes Rehlsbach was the first child of Johann Georg Rehlsbach and Maria Catherina Gerhard, of Eisern (Roedgen) Nassau, Prussia. Johannes was baptized on September 16, 1731.
(Family lore says that Johannes Rehlsbach was educated as a priest, and emigrated to the colonies to escape serving seven years in the German army.)
Entries of the Rehlsbach family were found in the parish registers of Roedgen, southeast of Siegen city. A gazetteer of Prussia states that Oberndorf was under the jurisdiction of Hilchendorf parish. The area is within ten kilometers of Siegen city in the former province of Westfalen, now the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen. The Roedgen registers begin with the year 1652, therefore the first entry for Rehlsbach was that of Tilman (Doelman) Rehlsbach who was born about 1628/1630 and died January 31, 1675, great grandfather of Johannes Rehlsbach.
No evidence was found in the Roedgen or Wilnsdorf parish registers that states that the RAILSBACK family departed for America. However, the index to the Roedgen parish registers, beginning with the year 1764, does not list any one bearing that surname for the era 1764 through 1798. The lack of RAILSBACK entries for that thirty-four year period suggests that the entire family did leave, and are identical with those found in Virginia.
In 1750 Johannes Rehlsbach was granted permission to emigrate from Germany. He arrived in the Colonies as Johannes Reesbach on the ship "Nancy" from Rotterdam. He took the oath of allegiance at Philadelphia on Friday, the 31st August 1750. This is found in the publication "Pennsylvania German Pioneers" by Ralph Beaver Strassburger. Another article regarding the Nassau - Siegen emigrants was found in a book by Otto Baeumer and translated and edited Don Yoder.
This emigrant list dates from the year 1738 and includes the names of Johann Peter Gutelius and Tilman Creutz. Both men are listed on the ship's registry with Johannes Reesbach as being on board the ship "Nancy" in 1750. At this time the various ministers were submitting summaries of departures from their parishes to the central authorities. In this manner the rulers could determine how many of their citizens and subjects were leaving their lands. Some of the German rulers passed laws restricting or prohibiting emigration due to the numbers of people leaving.
Compiled volumes of work concerning colonial German emigrants do not verify the departure of the Rehlsbach families. The most pertinent list was edited by Dr. Adolf Gerber This volume includes departure lists from the district of Diez which encompasses Oberndorf, Wilnsdorf, and Eisern. No one bearing the surname Railsback, or various spellings such as Rehlsbach, was mentioned in this summary. However, the forward did state that some lists were not published and only certain years are listed in the article.
John Railsback was a "foot soldier" of Culpeper County, Virginia in 1756, as reflected in the books "Virginia's Colonial Soldiers" and "Virginia Colonial Militia" where John Relsback is listed in Culpeper County, March 1756 in Hening's Statutes at Large. From 1757 to 1778, John Railsback was involved in several land transactions in Culpeper County, Virginia. His wife, Elizabeth Thomas, daughter of John Thomas, Jr. (Hans Wendel Thomas) and his first wife, Mary, is reflected in these transactions. Hans Wendel Thomas was the son of Johannes Thomas and Anna Maria Blankenbuhler. John Thomas gave land for "Love and Affections" to Joseph Holtzclaw and wife Mary Thomas, to Jacob Holtzclaw and wife Suzannah Thomas, and to Jacob Blankenbaker and wife, Mary Barbara Thomas. In all of these nearly simultaneous transactions, John Railsback is noted as a neighbor, and at the same time, John Thomas sold land to John Railsback who got twice as much land as the three known sons-in-law. This sale is regarded as another father-in-law/son-in-law transaction that cost John Railsback something because of the greater amount of land.
The only Railsback record at the Hebron Lutheran Church is that of the Christening of Catharina, daughter of Johannes Relsbach and wife, Elizabetha, on March 16, 1777; sponsors were Jacob Blankenbaker, Dorothea Tanner and Maria Zimmerman. This, plus the land transactions above, serves as evidence that Elizabeth was of the Thomas family. In this christening record, there is confusion as to whether the father or mother was Reformed. From the origins of John Railsback, he would appear to be the one who was of the Reformed faith. This is based on the church records of Eisern that were obtained by Mr. and Mrs. Guy Railsback of California in 1983 and by Mr. L. T. Ostwald of Colorado from Mr. Gerhard Pankratz of Siegen. These parish records have also been documented by Lineages, Inc.
In 1788 John and Elizabeth, along with a group of other families, moved from Culpeper County, Virginia to Mercer County, Kentucky and then to Barren County, Kentucky. Green County, Kentucky, (now Barren County) land entries dated December 14, 1798, shows that John Railsback is entitled to 200 acres of second rate land on the waters of the Marrowbone. Other land entries show that the group of families included, in addition to John Railsback, that of Reuben Dooley, Ambrose Huffman, and son Jacob Railsback. In 1806, John Railsback sold this land to Michael Branstatter as recorded in Barren County, Kentucky.
In 1805 John Railsback and his son Jacob, accompanied by Moses Dooley and his son Silas, started for Ohio in search of land. They came to Springfield, now Springdale, Hamilton County, Ohio, and spent the first night with Elder Thompson, a Presbyterian minister. Jacob selected a quarter section on Seven Mile, in Gasper Township, Preble County, Ohio. John Railsback and son Jacob subsequently moved their families to the new land.
John Railsback, Jr., the youngest child of John and Elizabeth, had also brought his family from Barren County, Kentucky to Gasper Township where they also built a home. This log cabin, still stands today in Fort St. Clair Park in Eaton, Ohio. The log cabin has been converted into the home for the park superintendent. The original barn was dismantled and moved to the park and reconstructed into the Shelter House that is also in use today.
Both John Railsback and his wife Elizabeth died in Preble County, Ohio; John died in 1810 and Elizabeth died in 1817. John and Elizabeth as well as their son Jacob are buried in the old Pottenger Family Cemetery in Somers Township.
The Pottenger Family Cemetery is located on land originally owned by Robert Pottenger and was never deeded for cemetery purposes. The location of the cemetery was discovered, and the owner of the land gave permission for a recording of the old tombstones in 1979. At that time the tombstones of John and Elizabeth Railsback were found beneath a huge pile, where they had all been stacked years before. The stones were almost all dust and totally white. After much work of piecing the stones together, and doing a rubbing the dates were obtained. The same was true of the tombstones of John and Catharine Railsback Pottenger, Lucinda Railsback Gough (daughter of Jacob and Martha Hill Railsback) and that of Jacob Railsback. Jacob's stone was all but buried and had to be dug up to find the year 1851 with the month being either August or October. The tombstones have undoubtedly all crumbled by this time, back to dust as the Souls that lay beneath them, never to be seen again.
The exact location of the cemetery is now known by only two persons, as was promised the owner of the land, but thanks to the diligent search of a descendant, we do have this piece of history. Permission was gained to enter the land again on November 25, 1994, and additional excavation of Jacob's tombstone revealed the date of death as August 26, 1851.
Johannes Rehlsbach was the first child of Johann Georg Rehlsbach and Maria Catherina Gerhard, of Eisern (Roedgen) Nassau, Prussia. Johannes was baptized on September 16, 1731.
(Family lore says that Johannes Rehlsbach was educated as a priest, and emigrated to the colonies to escape serving seven years in the German army.)
Entries of the Rehlsbach family were found in the parish registers of Roedgen, southeast of Siegen city. A gazetteer of Prussia states that Oberndorf was under the jurisdiction of Hilchendorf parish. The area is within ten kilometers of Siegen city in the former province of Westfalen, now the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen. The Roedgen registers begin with the year 1652, therefore the first entry for Rehlsbach was that of Tilman (Doelman) Rehlsbach who was born about 1628/1630 and died January 31, 1675, great grandfather of Johannes Rehlsbach.
No evidence was found in the Roedgen or Wilnsdorf parish registers that states that the RAILSBACK family departed for America. However, the index to the Roedgen parish registers, beginning with the year 1764, does not list any one bearing that surname for the era 1764 through 1798. The lack of RAILSBACK entries for that thirty-four year period suggests that the entire family did leave, and are identical with those found in Virginia.
In 1750 Johannes Rehlsbach was granted permission to emigrate from Germany. He arrived in the Colonies as Johannes Reesbach on the ship "Nancy" from Rotterdam. He took the oath of allegiance at Philadelphia on Friday, the 31st August 1750. This is found in the publication "Pennsylvania German Pioneers" by Ralph Beaver Strassburger. Another article regarding the Nassau - Siegen emigrants was found in a book by Otto Baeumer and translated and edited Don Yoder.
This emigrant list dates from the year 1738 and includes the names of Johann Peter Gutelius and Tilman Creutz. Both men are listed on the ship's registry with Johannes Reesbach as being on board the ship "Nancy" in 1750. At this time the various ministers were submitting summaries of departures from their parishes to the central authorities. In this manner the rulers could determine how many of their citizens and subjects were leaving their lands. Some of the German rulers passed laws restricting or prohibiting emigration due to the numbers of people leaving.
Compiled volumes of work concerning colonial German emigrants do not verify the departure of the Rehlsbach families. The most pertinent list was edited by Dr. Adolf Gerber This volume includes departure lists from the district of Diez which encompasses Oberndorf, Wilnsdorf, and Eisern. No one bearing the surname Railsback, or various spellings such as Rehlsbach, was mentioned in this summary. However, the forward did state that some lists were not published and only certain years are listed in the article.
John Railsback was a "foot soldier" of Culpeper County, Virginia in 1756, as reflected in the books "Virginia's Colonial Soldiers" and "Virginia Colonial Militia" where John Relsback is listed in Culpeper County, March 1756 in Hening's Statutes at Large. From 1757 to 1778, John Railsback was involved in several land transactions in Culpeper County, Virginia. His wife, Elizabeth Thomas, daughter of John Thomas, Jr. (Hans Wendel Thomas) and his first wife, Mary, is reflected in these transactions. Hans Wendel Thomas was the son of Johannes Thomas and Anna Maria Blankenbuhler. John Thomas gave land for "Love and Affections" to Joseph Holtzclaw and wife Mary Thomas, to Jacob Holtzclaw and wife Suzannah Thomas, and to Jacob Blankenbaker and wife, Mary Barbara Thomas. In all of these nearly simultaneous transactions, John Railsback is noted as a neighbor, and at the same time, John Thomas sold land to John Railsback who got twice as much land as the three known sons-in-law. This sale is regarded as another father-in-law/son-in-law transaction that cost John Railsback something because of the greater amount of land.
The only Railsback record at the Hebron Lutheran Church is that of the Christening of Catharina, daughter of Johannes Relsbach and wife, Elizabetha, on March 16, 1777; sponsors were Jacob Blankenbaker, Dorothea Tanner and Maria Zimmerman. This, plus the land transactions above, serves as evidence that Elizabeth was of the Thomas family. In this christening record, there is confusion as to whether the father or mother was Reformed. From the origins of John Railsback, he would appear to be the one who was of the Reformed faith. This is based on the church records of Eisern that were obtained by Mr. and Mrs. Guy Railsback of California in 1983 and by Mr. L. T. Ostwald of Colorado from Mr. Gerhard Pankratz of Siegen. These parish records have also been documented by Lineages, Inc.
In 1788 John and Elizabeth, along with a group of other families, moved from Culpeper County, Virginia to Mercer County, Kentucky and then to Barren County, Kentucky. Green County, Kentucky, (now Barren County) land entries dated December 14, 1798, shows that John Railsback is entitled to 200 acres of second rate land on the waters of the Marrowbone. Other land entries show that the group of families included, in addition to John Railsback, that of Reuben Dooley, Ambrose Huffman, and son Jacob Railsback. In 1806, John Railsback sold this land to Michael Branstatter as recorded in Barren County, Kentucky.
In 1805 John Railsback and his son Jacob, accompanied by Moses Dooley and his son Silas, started for Ohio in search of land. They came to Springfield, now Springdale, Hamilton County, Ohio, and spent the first night with Elder Thompson, a Presbyterian minister. Jacob selected a quarter section on Seven Mile, in Gasper Township, Preble County, Ohio. John Railsback and son Jacob subsequently moved their families to the new land.
John Railsback, Jr., the youngest child of John and Elizabeth, had also brought his family from Barren County, Kentucky to Gasper Township where they also built a home. This log cabin, still stands today in Fort St. Clair Park in Eaton, Ohio. The log cabin has been converted into the home for the park superintendent. The original barn was dismantled and moved to the park and reconstructed into the Shelter House that is also in use today.
Both John Railsback and his wife Elizabeth died in Preble County, Ohio; John died in 1810 and Elizabeth died in 1817. John and Elizabeth as well as their son Jacob are buried in the old Pottenger Family Cemetery in Somers Township.
The Pottenger Family Cemetery is located on land originally owned by Robert Pottenger and was never deeded for cemetery purposes. The location of the cemetery was discovered, and the owner of the land gave permission for a recording of the old tombstones in 1979. At that time the tombstones of John and Elizabeth Railsback were found beneath a huge pile, where they had all been stacked years before. The stones were almost all dust and totally white. After much work of piecing the stones together, and doing a rubbing the dates were obtained. The same was true of the tombstones of John and Catharine Railsback Pottenger, Lucinda Railsback Gough (daughter of Jacob and Martha Hill Railsback) and that of Jacob Railsback. Jacob's stone was all but buried and had to be dug up to find the year 1851 with the month being either August or October. The tombstones have undoubtedly all crumbled by this time, back to dust as the Souls that lay beneath them, never to be seen again.
The exact location of the cemetery is now known by only two persons, as was promised the owner of the land, but thanks to the diligent search of a descendant, we do have this piece of history. Permission was gained to enter the land again on November 25, 1994, and additional excavation of Jacob's tombstone revealed the date of death as August 26, 1851.
John Railsback also known as Johannes Rehlsbach
Johannes Rehlsbach was the first child of Johann Georg Rehlsbach and Maria Catherina Gerhard, of Eisern (Roedgen) Nassau, Prussia. Johannes was baptized on September 16, 1731.
(Family lore says that Johannes Rehlsbach was educated as a priest, and emigrated to the colonies to escape serving seven years in the German army.)
Entries of the Rehlsbach family were found in the parish registers of Roedgen, southeast of Siegen city. A gazetteer of Prussia states that Oberndorf was under the jurisdiction of Hilchendorf parish. The area is within ten kilometers of Siegen city in the former province of Westfalen, now the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen. The Roedgen registers begin with the year 1652, therefore the first entry for Rehlsbach was that of Tilman (Doelman) Rehlsbach who was born about 1628/1630 and died January 31, 1675, great grandfather of Johannes Rehlsbach.
No evidence was found in the Roedgen or Wilnsdorf parish registers that states that the RAILSBACK family departed for America. However, the index to the Roedgen parish registers, beginning with the year 1764, does not list any one bearing that surname for the era 1764 through 1798. The lack of RAILSBACK entries for that thirty-four year period suggests that the entire family did leave, and are identical with those found in Virginia.
In 1750 Johannes Rehlsbach was granted permission to emigrate from Germany. He arrived in the Colonies as Johannes Reesbach on the ship "Nancy" from Rotterdam. He took the oath of allegiance at Philadelphia on Friday, the 31st August 1750. This is found in the publication "Pennsylvania German Pioneers" by Ralph Beaver Strassburger. Another article regarding the Nassau - Siegen emigrants was found in a book by Otto Baeumer and translated and edited Don Yoder.
This emigrant list dates from the year 1738 and includes the names of Johann Peter Gutelius and Tilman Creutz. Both men are listed on the ship's registry with Johannes Reesbach as being on board the ship "Nancy" in 1750. At this time the various ministers were submitting summaries of departures from their parishes to the central authorities. In this manner the rulers could determine how many of their citizens and subjects were leaving their lands. Some of the German rulers passed laws restricting or prohibiting emigration due to the numbers of people leaving.
Compiled volumes of work concerning colonial German emigrants do not verify the departure of the Rehlsbach families. The most pertinent list was edited by Dr. Adolf Gerber This volume includes departure lists from the district of Diez which encompasses Oberndorf, Wilnsdorf, and Eisern. No one bearing the surname Railsback, or various spellings such as Rehlsbach, was mentioned in this summary. However, the forward did state that some lists were not published and only certain years are listed in the article.
John Railsback was a "foot soldier" of Culpeper County, Virginia in 1756, as reflected in the books "Virginia's Colonial Soldiers" and "Virginia Colonial Militia" where John Relsback is listed in Culpeper County, March 1756 in Hening's Statutes at Large. From 1757 to 1778, John Railsback was involved in several land transactions in Culpeper County, Virginia. His wife, Elizabeth Thomas, daughter of John Thomas, Jr. (Hans Wendel Thomas) and his first wife, Mary, is reflected in these transactions. Hans Wendel Thomas was the son of Johannes Thomas and Anna Maria Blankenbuhler. John Thomas gave land for "Love and Affections" to Joseph Holtzclaw and wife Mary Thomas, to Jacob Holtzclaw and wife Suzannah Thomas, and to Jacob Blankenbaker and wife, Mary Barbara Thomas. In all of these nearly simultaneous transactions, John Railsback is noted as a neighbor, and at the same time, John Thomas sold land to John Railsback who got twice as much land as the three known sons-in-law. This sale is regarded as another father-in-law/son-in-law transaction that cost John Railsback something because of the greater amount of land.
The only Railsback record at the Hebron Lutheran Church is that of the Christening of Catharina, daughter of Johannes Relsbach and wife, Elizabetha, on March 16, 1777; sponsors were Jacob Blankenbaker, Dorothea Tanner and Maria Zimmerman. This, plus the land transactions above, serves as evidence that Elizabeth was of the Thomas family. In this christening record, there is confusion as to whether the father or mother was Reformed. From the origins of John Railsback, he would appear to be the one who was of the Reformed faith. This is based on the church records of Eisern that were obtained by Mr. and Mrs. Guy Railsback of California in 1983 and by Mr. L. T. Ostwald of Colorado from Mr. Gerhard Pankratz of Siegen. These parish records have also been documented by Lineages, Inc.
In 1788 John and Elizabeth, along with a group of other families, moved from Culpeper County, Virginia to Mercer County, Kentucky and then to Barren County, Kentucky. Green County, Kentucky, (now Barren County) land entries dated December 14, 1798, shows that John Railsback is entitled to 200 acres of second rate land on the waters of the Marrowbone. Other land entries show that the group of families included, in addition to John Railsback, that of Reuben Dooley, Ambrose Huffman, and son Jacob Railsback. In 1806, John Railsback sold this land to Michael Branstatter as recorded in Barren County, Kentucky.
In 1805 John Railsback and his son Jacob, accompanied by Moses Dooley and his son Silas, started for Ohio in search of land. They came to Springfield, now Springdale, Hamilton County, Ohio, and spent the first night with Elder Thompson, a Presbyterian minister. Jacob selected a quarter section on Seven Mile, in Gasper Township, Preble County, Ohio. John Railsback and son Jacob subsequently moved their families to the new land.
John Railsback, Jr., the youngest child of John and Elizabeth, had also brought his family from Barren County, Kentucky to Gasper Township where they also built a home. This log cabin, still stands today in Fort St. Clair Park in Eaton, Ohio. The log cabin has been converted into the home for the park superintendent. The original barn was dismantled and moved to the park and reconstructed into the Shelter House that is also in use today.
Both John Railsback and his wife Elizabeth died in Preble County, Ohio; John died in 1810 and Elizabeth died in 1817. John and Elizabeth as well as their son Jacob are buried in the old Pottenger Family Cemetery in Somers Township.
The Pottenger Family Cemetery is located on land originally owned by Robert Pottenger and was never deeded for cemetery purposes. The location of the cemetery was discovered, and the owner of the land gave permission for a recording of the old tombstones in 1979. At that time the tombstones of John and Elizabeth Railsback were found beneath a huge pile, where they had all been stacked years before. The stones were almost all dust and totally white. After much work of piecing the stones together, and doing a rubbing the dates were obtained. The same was true of the tombstones of John and Catharine Railsback Pottenger, Lucinda Railsback Gough (daughter of Jacob and Martha Hill Railsback) and that of Jacob Railsback. Jacob's stone was all but buried and had to be dug up to find the year 1851 with the month being either August or October. The tombstones have undoubtedly all crumbled by this time, back to dust as the Souls that lay beneath them, never to be seen again.
The exact location of the cemetery is now known by only two persons, as was promised the owner of the land, but thanks to the diligent search of a descendant, we do have this piece of history. Permission was gained to enter the land again on November 25, 1994, and additional excavation of Jacob's tombstone revealed the date of death as August 26, 1851.
Johannes Rehlsbach was the first child of Johann Georg Rehlsbach and Maria Catherina Gerhard, of Eisern (Roedgen) Nassau, Prussia. Johannes was baptized on September 16, 1731.
(Family lore says that Johannes Rehlsbach was educated as a priest, and emigrated to the colonies to escape serving seven years in the German army.)
Entries of the Rehlsbach family were found in the parish registers of Roedgen, southeast of Siegen city. A gazetteer of Prussia states that Oberndorf was under the jurisdiction of Hilchendorf parish. The area is within ten kilometers of Siegen city in the former province of Westfalen, now the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen. The Roedgen registers begin with the year 1652, therefore the first entry for Rehlsbach was that of Tilman (Doelman) Rehlsbach who was born about 1628/1630 and died January 31, 1675, great grandfather of Johannes Rehlsbach.
No evidence was found in the Roedgen or Wilnsdorf parish registers that states that the RAILSBACK family departed for America. However, the index to the Roedgen parish registers, beginning with the year 1764, does not list any one bearing that surname for the era 1764 through 1798. The lack of RAILSBACK entries for that thirty-four year period suggests that the entire family did leave, and are identical with those found in Virginia.
In 1750 Johannes Rehlsbach was granted permission to emigrate from Germany. He arrived in the Colonies as Johannes Reesbach on the ship "Nancy" from Rotterdam. He took the oath of allegiance at Philadelphia on Friday, the 31st August 1750. This is found in the publication "Pennsylvania German Pioneers" by Ralph Beaver Strassburger. Another article regarding the Nassau - Siegen emigrants was found in a book by Otto Baeumer and translated and edited Don Yoder.
This emigrant list dates from the year 1738 and includes the names of Johann Peter Gutelius and Tilman Creutz. Both men are listed on the ship's registry with Johannes Reesbach as being on board the ship "Nancy" in 1750. At this time the various ministers were submitting summaries of departures from their parishes to the central authorities. In this manner the rulers could determine how many of their citizens and subjects were leaving their lands. Some of the German rulers passed laws restricting or prohibiting emigration due to the numbers of people leaving.
Compiled volumes of work concerning colonial German emigrants do not verify the departure of the Rehlsbach families. The most pertinent list was edited by Dr. Adolf Gerber This volume includes departure lists from the district of Diez which encompasses Oberndorf, Wilnsdorf, and Eisern. No one bearing the surname Railsback, or various spellings such as Rehlsbach, was mentioned in this summary. However, the forward did state that some lists were not published and only certain years are listed in the article.
John Railsback was a "foot soldier" of Culpeper County, Virginia in 1756, as reflected in the books "Virginia's Colonial Soldiers" and "Virginia Colonial Militia" where John Relsback is listed in Culpeper County, March 1756 in Hening's Statutes at Large. From 1757 to 1778, John Railsback was involved in several land transactions in Culpeper County, Virginia. His wife, Elizabeth Thomas, daughter of John Thomas, Jr. (Hans Wendel Thomas) and his first wife, Mary, is reflected in these transactions. Hans Wendel Thomas was the son of Johannes Thomas and Anna Maria Blankenbuhler. John Thomas gave land for "Love and Affections" to Joseph Holtzclaw and wife Mary Thomas, to Jacob Holtzclaw and wife Suzannah Thomas, and to Jacob Blankenbaker and wife, Mary Barbara Thomas. In all of these nearly simultaneous transactions, John Railsback is noted as a neighbor, and at the same time, John Thomas sold land to John Railsback who got twice as much land as the three known sons-in-law. This sale is regarded as another father-in-law/son-in-law transaction that cost John Railsback something because of the greater amount of land.
The only Railsback record at the Hebron Lutheran Church is that of the Christening of Catharina, daughter of Johannes Relsbach and wife, Elizabetha, on March 16, 1777; sponsors were Jacob Blankenbaker, Dorothea Tanner and Maria Zimmerman. This, plus the land transactions above, serves as evidence that Elizabeth was of the Thomas family. In this christening record, there is confusion as to whether the father or mother was Reformed. From the origins of John Railsback, he would appear to be the one who was of the Reformed faith. This is based on the church records of Eisern that were obtained by Mr. and Mrs. Guy Railsback of California in 1983 and by Mr. L. T. Ostwald of Colorado from Mr. Gerhard Pankratz of Siegen. These parish records have also been documented by Lineages, Inc.
In 1788 John and Elizabeth, along with a group of other families, moved from Culpeper County, Virginia to Mercer County, Kentucky and then to Barren County, Kentucky. Green County, Kentucky, (now Barren County) land entries dated December 14, 1798, shows that John Railsback is entitled to 200 acres of second rate land on the waters of the Marrowbone. Other land entries show that the group of families included, in addition to John Railsback, that of Reuben Dooley, Ambrose Huffman, and son Jacob Railsback. In 1806, John Railsback sold this land to Michael Branstatter as recorded in Barren County, Kentucky.
In 1805 John Railsback and his son Jacob, accompanied by Moses Dooley and his son Silas, started for Ohio in search of land. They came to Springfield, now Springdale, Hamilton County, Ohio, and spent the first night with Elder Thompson, a Presbyterian minister. Jacob selected a quarter section on Seven Mile, in Gasper Township, Preble County, Ohio. John Railsback and son Jacob subsequently moved their families to the new land.
John Railsback, Jr., the youngest child of John and Elizabeth, had also brought his family from Barren County, Kentucky to Gasper Township where they also built a home. This log cabin, still stands today in Fort St. Clair Park in Eaton, Ohio. The log cabin has been converted into the home for the park superintendent. The original barn was dismantled and moved to the park and reconstructed into the Shelter House that is also in use today.
Both John Railsback and his wife Elizabeth died in Preble County, Ohio; John died in 1810 and Elizabeth died in 1817. John and Elizabeth as well as their son Jacob are buried in the old Pottenger Family Cemetery in Somers Township.
The Pottenger Family Cemetery is located on land originally owned by Robert Pottenger and was never deeded for cemetery purposes. The location of the cemetery was discovered, and the owner of the land gave permission for a recording of the old tombstones in 1979. At that time the tombstones of John and Elizabeth Railsback were found beneath a huge pile, where they had all been stacked years before. The stones were almost all dust and totally white. After much work of piecing the stones together, and doing a rubbing the dates were obtained. The same was true of the tombstones of John and Catharine Railsback Pottenger, Lucinda Railsback Gough (daughter of Jacob and Martha Hill Railsback) and that of Jacob Railsback. Jacob's stone was all but buried and had to be dug up to find the year 1851 with the month being either August or October. The tombstones have undoubtedly all crumbled by this time, back to dust as the Souls that lay beneath them, never to be seen again.
The exact location of the cemetery is now known by only two persons, as was promised the owner of the land, but thanks to the diligent search of a descendant, we do have this piece of history. Permission was gained to enter the land again on November 25, 1994, and additional excavation of Jacob's tombstone revealed the date of death as August 26, 1851.
Inscription
Tombstone Has Been Destroyed
