Items Below:
1) Newspaper article describing how remains of Meek Steely (#47) and his wife, Martha (Patsy) McCutcheon (McCutchen) (#48), and John Steely and his wife, Margaret Emmerson, were moved by their descendants from original burial locations to Mt. Pleasant Cemetery. The date of the publication and the name of the paper in which the article was published are unknown.
2) A transcription of the article by the webmaster, Susan Leach Snyder.
3) Comments by Robert Steely, December 2006, which analyzes the newspaper article.
4) A note from the webmaster and additional links to supporting documents.
Family History
Of Early Settlers
Recalled
Remains Removed to Mt. PleasantMiss Emma Deane of Chillicothe and Miss Elizabeth Ludwig of Circleville are each having the remains of her great grand-parents removed from the family burying ground in Pickaway township to the Steely lot in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.
Miss Deane’s people were Dr. Meek Steely, who was buried in 1865, and his wife whose maiden name was McCutcheon and had preceded him to the grave in 1842. Those of Miss Ludwig were John Steely who died in 1843 and who was followed to the grave by his wife in 1847. Mrs. John Steely was of the Emmerson family of this township.
These young ladies surely deserve credit for their efforts in perpetuate the names of their worthy ancestors. These men were sons of Gabriel Steely and were well known and highly respected citizens of this township. John Steely being a very large land holder at the time of his death. Two brothers of these men George and Reuben after serving through the war of 1812, went at its close to the Wabash County and built homes and lived the balance of their lives near the famous Tippecanoe battle ground where they had fought the Indians in 1811. H. M. Steely of Danville, Ill., the attorney and close personal friend of the Hon. Joseph G. Cannon, is a grandson of George Steely. Another grandson of this old time soldier and Indian fighter is Mr. Enos H. Nebecker of Covington, Ind. Mr. Nebecker was Treasurer of the U. S. during the Benjamin Harrison administration.
The founder of the Steely family in N. A. was from Scotland and the rugged honesty and other good qualities of the peerless people of that goodly land, has followed this family down through succeeding generations even unto the present day. Gabriel Steely, who fought in 1775 was a North Carolina Whig and a member of the Dunkard.
Comments by Robert Steely, December 2006
Robert (descendant of John Steely) explains "Miss Emma Deane (b. 1878) was descended from Gabriel & Mary (Meek) Steely> Dr. Meek and Martha (McCutcheon) Steely> William Meek & Margaret (Harwood) Steely> and Joseph Wilson and Elizabeth (Steely) Deane.
The information I have regarding the Ludwig family is sketchy. The descent would be as follows: Gabriel and Mary (Meek) Steely> John and Margaret (Emerson) Steely> Lemuel and Guyna (Holderman) Steely> Daniel and Julia (Steely) Ludwig> Elizabeth (Ludwig) Young.
This article states that two brothers of Meek Steely and John Steely, George and Reuben, ‘after serving through the war of 1812, went at its close to the Wabash country and build homes and lived the balance of their lives near the famous Tippecanoe battle ground where they had fought the Indians in 1811.’ It is possible that this statement is true regarding George Steely since he was born in 1788 and would have been old enough to have served in the military at that time. However, the biographical sketch of John N. Steely, son of Reuben, states: ‘his father [Reuben] was born in Pennsylvania in 1807.’ (Biographical Record and Portrait Album of Tippecanoe County, Indiana Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1888. pp. 592, 595). Thus, Reuben would have not been old enough to have participated in the Battle of Tippecanoe or the War of 1812.
H. M. Steely was Harlan Melville Steely, born 1856, died 27 May 1935. He was descended from Gabriel and Mary (Meek) Steely, George and Elizabeth (Emerson) Steely, and George and Hannah (Hiser) Steely. H. M. Steely was avid in the pursuit of Steely genealogy. He was, probably, responsible for collecting the majority of the Steely information from Pennsylvania, which was recorded in the Steely genealogy compiled by George who served as the historian for the Steely-Emerson reunions which were held in Lafayette Indiana.”
Robert Steely is unable to confirm that the original Steely to America was from Scotland or that Gabriel was a North Carolina Whig or a Dunkard.
[A note from Susan Snyder (Meek Steely’s Great- Great -Great Granddaughter): H. M. Steely moved Gabriel’s body from a farm about 4 miles NW to Mt. Pleasant Cemetery on December 2nd, 1914, according to a plaque on Gabriel’s tombstone and an article that appeared in the Democrat-Watchman on 12-11-1914, titled Removed Remains of Soldier of Revolution to Mt. Pleasant. The movement is also confirmed in a letter from H.M. Steely to Frank R. Steely in 2015.]
Contact person for this website is Susan Snyder: susanleachsnyder@gmail.com
