no children listed in 1910 census
Jonathan Maxson was a step-son of Jesse Hiatt.
Jonathan Maxson was born June 11, 1820, on a farm about half a mile from the town of Freeport in Harrison County, Ohio. His ancestors were of Scotch, Irish and French descent. He was one of a family of ten children. His mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Kinsey, was twice married, and he had four brothers, two sisters and four half sisters. Jonathan was intended by his father to be a farmer, and while a lad he learned the duties of that laborious but independent calling. Farmer's boys do not usually pine away for the want of work, and Jonathan could always find plenty to do. His education was not very well attended to, as educational advantages were not to be had where he lived. He went to school only two terms and learned to read and spell. Some time after the death of his father, David Maxson, his mother married a very worthy man named Jesse Hiatt, and moved to Clinton County, Ohio.(from Harrison County, Ohio) Shortly after this the family determined to move to Illinois, and in the fall of 1830 started on their journey to Tazewell County, (of which McLean was then a part), as they had friends and relatives there.
They went in two wagons, one under charge of Mr. Hiatt and the other driven by Christopher Kinsey, Jonathan's grandfather. They also had five hundred sheep and four milch cows. Their journey of two hundred and fifty miles occupied twenty-one days, because of the difficulty in taking charge of their large flock of sheep. They camped out every night of their journey, except one, and by day they traveled from point to point without any road to guide them. It was necessary every night to guard the sheep from the wolves, but this was easily done as the frightened sheep huddled closely together.
The entire expense of the journey was ten dollars spent for food, which was less than a dollar apiece, as the caravan consisted of eleven persons. They had a very easy and pleasant journey with no remarkable adventures. One of the party caught an eel about four feet long and weighing about six pounds with his hands in the White River. It made a supper for the whole party. Jonathan the son of William's second wife, says this is not a fish story.
The party arrived at Stout's grove on the twenty-first of September , 1830, but after a few days of rest proceeded to Dillon's Settlement (now in Tazewell County). After spending two of three weeks in taking observations of the country, Mr. Hiatt returned to Stout's Grove and bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, (twenty acres under fence) with a log cabin, for four hundred dollars. One half of the farm was prairie and the other half timber.
Here the family succeeded very well. Mr. Hiatt followed his trade as a blacksmith, and the boys attended to the farm, and they all did well. Jonathan went to school sometimes during winters, for five years. His teacher was Hosea Stout, the nephew of Ephraim Stout, the founder of the settlement at the grove which bears his name. The School was attended by thirty or forty children, who came great distances and boarded with the farmers nearby.
Jonathan Maxson never saw any candy until he was eighteen years of age. How terrible this must have been for a boy. People spun and wove their own clothing. A calico dress to wear on Sunday was a piece of unwarrantable extravagance. The family was always quite independent of the market. Their tea was made from roots and herbs, their sugar from maple sap, and they kept twenty swarms of bees for honey.
Jonathan Maxson states that during the winter of the deep snow (1830) he and his brother went out into the woods where it did not drift nor blow away and took a careful measurement of the depth of the snow with a stick and found it four feet deep. During the early part of that terrible winter deer were very numerous, but when the deep snow came they were starved and hunted by famished wolves and by settlers with snow shoes, until they were almost exterminated.
Shortly after the snow fell Mr. Jesse Hiatt killed a very large deer, which he was unable to carry home. He buried it in the snow and covered it with his coat to keep the wolves away. But the snow afterwards fell so deep that he was unable to visit the spot for two weeks. At last he put a harness on one of his horses and went to drag it home. On his return with the deer he killed three others and attached them also to his horse. But the load was so hard to drag that he did not return until late at night, when he found the frightened neighbors collected at his house, about to start on a search for him.
Families Blaze Trail in Back Country on horseback
They had collected on horseback with trumpets and horns and various things with which to make unearthly noises, and were no doubt disappointed to find that there was no occasion for their fearful shrieks. The remainder of the night was spent in dressing the deer. ---
Jonathan's step-father, Jesse Hiatt, kept for a long time a gun which went through the Black Hawk war. Captain McClure borrowed it and carried it through the war and when that exciting and troublesome campaign was finished, he returned the gun to its owner.
Jonathan Maxson was eighteen years of age when his stepfather died and upon him devolved the duty of overseeing the farm. ---- 15 p.132
Found in Ohio Marriages. Married by Robert Safford, in Washington County, Iowa. See notes of Moon Family under Sabina Moon.
The family had come to Ohio from Ohio by 1800. They moved to Ind. about
1835 and are found in the 1860 Census of Ind. in the town of Westfield. Jesse was found with his son Nathan int he 1860 census.DATE 1860
PLAC living in Westfield, Hamilton County, Indiana
FIFTH GENERATION: GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN OF GEORGE HIATT(582.) JESSE HIATT (144.) (22.) (3.) (1.):
b. 19-7mo-1779, Guilford Co., NC.; d. 11-10mo-1864, Westfield Hamilton Co., Indiana; m. (1st). 4 August 1800 (date of marriage bond, Washington Co., Ohio)., to SARAH BEALS, d/o Daniel and Susanna (Jackson). Beals; b. ----; d. 1802/3 ?; m. (2nd). c1809, to LEVICA WILLIAMS (parentage unknown, but probably a granddaughter of Richard and Prudence (Beals). Williams; b. c1791, NC.; d. 4-10mo-1852, Westfield, Hamilton Co., Indiana. NC. to Ohio by 1800; to Indiana 1835.CH: (By first wife). (1578.) Eli.
(By second wife). (1579.) Sarah; (1580.) Jonathan; (1581.) Curtis; (1582.) Nathan; (1583.) Susanna; (1584.) Mahala; (1585.) Isom; (1586.) Elizabeth Ann.Newberry Mo. Mtg., Clinton Co., Ohio:
28-10mo-1819 - Jesse Hiatt and wife Viry received by request.
25-11mo-1819 - Sarah, Jonathan, Curtis and Nathan, children of Jesse, received by request.
23-3mo-1826 - Jesse Hiatt and family granted a certificate to Dover Mo. Mtg.Dover Mo. Mtg., Clinton Co., Ohio:
3-6mo-1826 - Jesse Hiatt and wife Lavisa and children Sarah, Jonathan, Curtis, Nathan, Susannah and Mahala received on certificate from Newberry Mo. Mtg., Ohio, dated 23-3mo-1826.
15-10mo-1835 - Jesse Hiatt and wife Levisha and children Curtis, Nathan, Susannah, Isham and Betsy Ann, granted a certificate to White Lick Mo. Mtg., Indiana. (R57).White Lick Mo. Mtg., Morgan Co., Indiana:
18-11mo-1835 - Jesse Hiatt and family received on certificate from Dover Mo. Mtg., Ohio. (R73).1850 Census, Washington Twp., Hamilton Co., Indiana: Jesse Hiatt, 70, NC.; Levica, 59, NC.; Elizabeth Ann, 18, Ohio.
"…Jesse (Hiatt). and mother swain both wanted the same girl, and decided to settle it by swimming across the (Ohio). river back and forth, and the one who did it most was to have no competition from the other one. Jesse lasted longest and the other one gave up and later married a sister of Jesse. If this is true he would be Erwin Montgomery." (R22).