Routh - Andrew J.
Source:
H. W. Beckwith History of Montgomery County, Indiana (Chicago: HH Hill, 1881) p
376
Andrew
J. ROUTH, farmer (retired), New Ross, was born March 4, 1815, in Butler County,
Ohio, and is a son of Jesse and Nancy (DOUGLAS) Routh. Jesse and Nancy Routh
were natives of North Carolina, and moved with their parents to Tennessee, then
to Ohio, where they were married. They next moved to Clarke township,
Montgomery County, Indiana, arriving September 15, 1828. They settled on Sec.
21, and there, in 1837, Nancy Routh died. Jesse Routh married again, and moved
to Boone County, and in 1843 came to Walnut township, this County, where he
owned an interest in a small mill just south of what is now New Ross, the first
mill in the township. There he died in 1844. He was a democrat, and both he and
first wife were members of the Baptist Church. His father was wounded in the
arm in the revolution. Andrew J. Routh spent his youth with his axe and plow in
clearing and stirring the soil. He attended school in the log house, with oiled
paper windows, slab seats, etc., when he could. He learned the carpenter's
trade, and worked at that business in connection with farming, but he has
farmed more or less all his life till of late years. He retired from constant
toil on account of inability to labor, caused by a stroke of paralysis. For the
past eleven years he has lived in New Ross. Mr. Routh was married in 1835 to
Sarah A. AGEE, daughter of Elizabeth Agee, who came to the County about 1834.
In 1838 Mr. and Mrs. Routh moved to Walnut township, and bought a farm of forty
acres in Sec. 35; sold this afterward and bought a much larger farm in the same
section. He has since purchased a house and lot in New Ross. His wife died May
14, 1874. She, with her husband, was a member of the Christian Church. Two
children, Martha J. and Acenith, are deceased. James L. died in the war, after
contracting a severe cold in the battle of Nashville. The four living are in
Walnut township. Mr. Routh has been quite a prominent republican. In his young
days he was for many years a constable, and later he has been justice of the
peace fourteen years, township trustee three years, and school director for
twelve years. When he looks about and beholds the many changes, he is proud
that he has been able to contribute in muscle and brain toward the conversion
of the wilderness into wheat and corn fields, with here and there a village,
school or Church.
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