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Dr. Jonas H. Roe
Family History		 Dr. Jonas H. Roe

     Jonas H. Roe was born August 3, 1819 in Sussex County, New Jersey. He was the fifth and youngest child of Benjamin Roe, Jr. (c. 1782, New York - 1822, New Jersey) and his wife Drucilla Van Kirk (c. 1786, New Jersey - 1862, New Jersey), the daughter of Thomas Van Kirk. His grandparents, Benjamin and Catherine (Demarest) Roe, moved to New Jersey in the 1790's from Warwick in Orange County, New York.
     Jonas probably left New Jersey around 1841. He was married in DeKalb County, Indiana, in November of 1842 to Alice Ann Barber. She died in June of 1846. They had three children; John Early, born 1843; Drucilla Lovisa, born 1845 and married Cyrus Mosier; and Susannah B., born 1846.
     On September 2, 1847, Jonas married Emily Aldrich (born April of 1828, Vermont), oldest child of Simeon and Emily (McClure) Aldrich. Her family settled in Troy Township, DeKalb County, Indiana, in 1836. Emily died of an asthma attack on January 17, 1856, and is buried in Eddy Cemetery in Troy Township, a few miles from Hamilton, Indiana.
     Jonas and Emily had four children:

  1. Emily A. (1849 - 1914) married James Vandaveer in 1867. They had two daughters: (1) Florence, who married a Whittaker, and (2) Lillian, who married J. Gallagher. James died in February of 1873, and Emily was remarried in November of 1873 to William Booth. They had eight children, all born in Greenwood County except the last son, who was born in Oklahoma. (1) Ella died in childhood. (2) Mary Etta married William S. Knight. (3) William and (4) Burton drowned in Otter Creek when children. Then came (5) Preston, (6) Roy Lee, (7) Leslie (male), and Wayne. Emily died in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
  2. Alice Ann (1851- ) married Christian Melig in 1872. They left Kansas.
  3. John W. (1853-1903) married Martha Dunlap in 1880. He died in Greenwood County. Their children were (1) Ethel Olive, who married Paul L. Feagans; (2) Dorothy (Dot), who married William Ayres; (3) Harriet; and (4) Jonas, who died in childhood.
  4. Harriet Delena (1855-1933) married Isaiah M. Hart in 1870. They spent their lives near Climax and in Eureka in Greenwood County, Kansas. Eight children were born to them: (1) Charles; twins, (2) Hila, who married a Broddle, and (3) Herbert; (4) Clarence; (5) Della, who married a Bollinger; (6) John, who died at the age of 21; (7) Jonas; and (8) Harry, who died at age six.
     Jonas married his third wife, Celina Aldrich, daughter of Isaac T., in DeKalb County in February of 1856. They had one child, Charles H., who died when about 16 months of age. Celina died in Eureka, Kansas in 1922.
     In the latter part of 1850, Jonas was in the gold mining area of Placerville, California. He reported to the census agent that he was averaging $3.00 of gold per day. In the following year he returned to Indiana.
      When the Civil War began, Jonas and family were living near Clay City in southern Illinois. In September of 1861, he enlisted for three years and was assigned to Company D and M of the Illinois 5th Cavalry Volunteers. While at Vicksburg, Mississippi, he was injured when his horse fell on him. In December of 1864 he was mustered out of the army at Vicksburg. Not long after returning home, he moved his family to a farm on South Otter Creek, west of Climax, Kansas.
     Jonas was a physician and farmer. During his last few years, his youngest daughter, Hattie, sometimes accompanied him on his medical calls. She later became a mid-wife nurse.
     In 1873, he entered the Health Institute in Battle Creek, Michigan, and died there March 21 of that year at the age of 53. Jonas was a descendant of David Roe, who was settled in Flushing, Queens County, New York, by 1675.

Submitted by Colleen Rader Mapes

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