Biographical Memoirs of Wells County, Indiana, 1903. pp. 511-512.

JESSE CRITES.

Sixty years ago Indiana was by no means the inviting place to bring a young and blushing bride that it is today. In the towns some of the comforts of civilization might be procured, but in the timber the rudest kind of fare was what the hardy settler lived on. It was to a home in the woods of Indiana, more than a half-century ago, that Jesse CRITES, of Union township, brought his wife. The maidens of those days were not so fastidious and exacting as those of the present. They were content with little and were happiest when their husbands permitted them to bear their share of the burdens of pioneer life, and doubtless they were all the better for it.

Jesse CRITES, the son of John and Mary (Walters) CRITES, was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, December 2, 1824. His parents were natives of Pennsylvania, but in their youth emigrated with the families to which they respectively belonged to Ohio, and settled on adjoining tracts of land. Both families were of German ancestry, and the intimacy between them led to a closer relationship between the children. John and Mary were married and set up housekeeping on a piece of land they bought from the government. He was by trade a cabinetmaker and set up a shop near his residence, from which he turned out many handsome, substantial pieces of furniture. Many of the best tables, stands, bureaus and bedsteads that adorned the homes in the neighborhood where he lived were of his handiwork. The union of John and Mary CRITES was blessed by the birth of five sons and five daughters. Nine of these still survive, namely: Rebecca, Jesse, Catherine, Elizabeth, John Cyrus, Eli, William and Sarah. The father of this family prospered and accumulated money. He followed his business of cabinetmaking many years and continued to reside upon his farm up to the time of his death at sixty-eight years of age.

Jesse, the oldest son, was reared upon his father's farm and helped to clear the land, much of the clearing devolving entirely upon him as he grew older, for his father was frequently quite busy in his shop. The boy was ambitious and desirous of being in the possession of land of his own, so when he attained his majority he looked about for a piece of government land in his native county, but there was none to be had. It was not quite so scarce in Indiana, however, so to that state he proceeded and in Union township, Wells County, he found a tract of eighty acres which suited him and after making his entry upon it in 1848 he returned to Ohio.

In February, 1849, Mr. Crites was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Myers, a native of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, born in 1829. Her parents were natives of Pennsylvania, where they were born, reared and married, and soon afterward located in Tuscarawas county. Two years afterward she accompanied her husband to the woods of Wells County, and in the fall of 1849 her parents followed to Allen county, going to Wisconsin four years later, where her father died and her mother moved to Kansas, where she continued to reside until her death. Mrs. Crites was blessed by nature with vigorous health and strength and in her girlhood days she frequently assisted her father in the clearing and in the fields. Hence, when she came into the woods of Wells County with her husband, she proved a valuable assistant to him. They first took up housekeeping in a little log shanty on the farm of a neighbor, Isaac Roe, while Mr. Crites was building a log cabin on his own place. When it was completed they moved into it and began the laborious task of converting the woods and swamps into a productive farm. It took time, muscle and energy, but it was eventually accomplished, as is amply attested by the well-kept, well-improved farm upon which he resides in section 20. To the original eighty acres he has added, until he was the owner of two hundred and four acres. This he has since divided and given a good portion of it to his children, leaving one hundred and forty-four acres in the homestead. When he came to Wells County, he had just fifteen dollars in money, and it was stolen from him within a short time after his arrival, and he never got even the satisfaction of knowing the thief.

Mr. and Mrs. Crites were the parents of seven children, only three of whom are still living. They are John, who married Amanda McGoogan, resides at Uniondale; Jesse F. married Vianna Shaw, and resides in Charlevoix county, Michigan; Isa, wife of G. F. Platt, resides on the old homestead, which he operates. In religion Mr. and Mrs. Crites are members of the Church of God at Trinity Chapel, and he has been a worshipper in that society for sixty-one years, joining the church when he was only eighteen. For several years he has been a church official. The first meeting held in this vicinity by the adherents of this faith was held in Mr. Crites' cabin about fifty-two years ago, and the first society was organized there, there being six members, himself and wife. Daniel Fisher and wife and Daniel Hostetler and wife, the later having come at the same time as did CRITES, and of these six four are still living, Mrs. Fisher and Mr. Hostetler being deceased.

In politics Mr. Crites is one of the old-line Republicans in Union township, but never sought or held any official position at the hands of his party. His business of farming and stock raising has occupied too much of his time to afford him the chance of dabbling in politics. He is a man of kindly disposition and strong sympathy and every impulse of his nature is for the betterment of his fellow men. Hence, he is not only well liked, but exceedingly popular, a man whose friendship is highly valued and whose influence is sought and appreciated.