Jesse Hoisington was born in 23 Jun 1824 at Amesville, Athens County OH. Jesse was the second child and second son of Barzava Zebulon and Mahala A. (Slater) Hoisington, the daughter of Jonathan and Lydia (Moss) Drake.

Jesse's father, Barzava, was one of the first settlers of Athens County, having arrived there about 1800. He died in 1834 when Jesse was 10, The next year, his mother married another first settler, Noah Linscott, the second of her three husbands. Noah had 3 children from his first marriage, making a blended family of 10. As one of the older children, Jesse was sent out to work on another farm. In the 1835 will of Levi Culver of Adams, Washington County, is found the statement:

Little is known of him over the next few years. On 8 November 1848, at age 24, he married Almira Drake in Athens County. Almira was born 22 Jul 1823 in New York. They moved to Madison County OH, in the western part of the state and are listed in 1850 Census as being in Pike Township. Three of their children were born in OH: Charles (1847), Lydia Mahlia (7 Nov 1849) and Louisa (19 Aug 1852).

The next child, Franklin Benjamin, was born 12 Mar 1855 in Rockford IL. They didn't stay there very long and may have been in transit, as their last son William Andrew Jackson, was b. 30 Jun 1857 in Fillmore Co. MN. Almira died the following year, on May 1st.

A year later, in Winneshiek Co. IA, Jesse married Clara Agnes Perkins, the middle daughter of his neighbors, Daniel Sharpe and Lydia Samantha (Chamberlain) Perkins, who had recently moved there from Vermont. She was only 20, and now instantly became the mother of 4 children, the youngest of which was only a year old. She also started having her own children, starting with William J., who was born in 1858.

In the August 1860 Fed Census, the family is listed at Dwelling 965, Plymouth Rock Post Office, Orleans Township, Winneshiek Co., IA.

On 29 July 1861, another son, Daniel Jesse (my g-grandfather) was born in Winneshiek County.

On 9/24/1862, at the age of 38, Jesse enlisted in Company B, Northern Border Brigade (IA state militia), at Ft. Dodge, Webster Co., IA where the family had moved.. He served under Capt. William Williams. He was mustered out 8/26/1863. His daughter Clara Elvira was b. 8 Oct 1863. A son, Samiel, was b. in 1869. However, both Clara Elvira and Samiel must have died sometime before 1870 as the census shows only the following for Jesse and Clara Agnes' family:

Apparently, soon after the 1870 census, the family moved to IL. In 1871, Jesse's oldest daughter, Lydia Mahalia, married Daniel S. Perkins, her step-uncle (Clara Agnes' brother), in Iroquois Co. IL. 1874 was a big year. Jesse and Clara's son, Charles A. was born in IL., Jesse's daughter Louisa married Eathan Hoover. Also in 1874, Jesse and Clara moved to Kansas, where Jesse's son William Andrew Jackson married Mary Alice McIntire on 29 Jun 1879.

The picture of Jesse and Clara at the top of the page was taken in Harper County, KS, It is not known whether they were living there or whether the picture was taken while on a trip to visit their daughter Lydia Mahalia and her husband, Clara's brother, who were living there.

By 1880, they had moved to Sumner Co., KS, and are listed in the federal census for Valverde Twp.

1/1 Hoisington, Jesse,55,Farmer,

Clara B., 39

Daniel, 18, Farmer

Charles A, 5

Even though he is not listed, it is known that Frank also lived on the farm. Wm A.J. lived nearby and is shown on the 1880 federal census for Valverde Twp.:

10/12 Hoisington, Wm., 22, Quarry, MN, OH,NY

Mary, 16, , IN, PA,VT

It is believed that in the 1890s Clara and Jesse went to live with their son William A. J., who had made the run to OK and had a homestead in Alfafa County near Yewed OK. The family was a very close one and often, during peak work periods on a particular farm, other members of the family would come long distances to help out, including Daniel Jesse's family had also homestead in OK and lived in Crescent, Logan County. The picture below was taken during a hops harvest on William A.J.'s farm. Jesse is the one on the right with the long beard. Clara is next to the little girl in the dark dress.

Jesse died shortly after this picture was taken, on 23 Aug 1894. He is buried in the Austin Cemetery, in Anson, Sumner Co. KS near members of his brother Lewis' family, who also came to Sumner County in the 1870s.

After Jesse's death, Clara bought her own house in Crescent, where she lived with her son Charles. According to the 1900 census, she stated that she had given birth to 7 children, but only 2 were still living (Daniel Jesse and Charles A. William A.J. was a step-son). One of those sons, Daniel Jesse, died 1 May 1913 from lockjaw, as the result of an infected splinter.

Clara also died as the result of an accident. She was cooking on a wood stove and, according to her granddaughter, as she turned away from it, her clothes brushed the flame and her her clothes caught on fire. Frantic efforts to put out the fire saved her life, but she lived only a few days and died on 19 Jan 1916 at age 75. According to the obituary in the Crescent paper (Jan 28, 1916)

"Grandma Hoisington was a most noble character, filled with tenderness, love and kindness, and her death is dindeed deeply mourned by all who knew her, for she was one of God's precious characters, and just such people as her helped to make the world better by having lived."

Clara is buried in Crescent Cemetery, Crescent, Logan Co., OK.

Harriette Jensen, gg-grandaughter of Jesse and Clara