John Ewalt and Catharine [Unk]

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Husband John Ewalt ¹

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 25 Feb 1826 - Juniata Twp, Perry Co, PA 2
         Buried: 

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         Father: [Ancestor] Ewalt (      -      )
         Mother: 

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       Marriage: 

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   Other Spouse: Mary Sample (      -Bef 1826) 2

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Wife Catharine [Unk] ²

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Aft 1826
         Buried: 

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   Other Spouse: Dr. Daniel Fahnestock (      -      ) 2

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Children

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• They had no children.

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General Notes: Husband - John Ewalt

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The records of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, show that a John Ewalt purchased from Edward West, on Jan. 6, 1796, 200 acres of land lying on the Juniata river. In the deed conveying it it is stated that John Ewalt was "of Juniata township." John Ewalt, then, was a citizen of Juniata township, Cumberland county (since 1820 Perry county), as early as 1796. Nothing has been ascertained from any source to fix more definitely the time of his coming, nor where he had previously lived. There is a tradition that he came from the vicinity of the Trappe, Montgomery county, but as this is entirely without support it is hardly safe to unqualifiedly accept it.
The land which John Ewalt purchased from Edward West lay at the lower end of the present town of Newport, on the south bank of the Juniata. According to the best information at hand he lived there continuously from some time prior to 1796 down to the time of his death. While there is nothing on the records to indicate that he ever lived in the Cumberland Valley there is a strong probability that prior to settling on the Juniata he spent some time there.
When John Ewalt settled on the Juniata he was not yet thirty years of age. That part of the state was then thinly populated, settlements were a long way apart, but he soon figured in public affairs, his name standing associated with those of persons of known influence and prominence, an indication that he was a man of intelligence and force of character. Along about 1800 he was a member of the board of poor directors for Cumberland County and as early as 1807 was advocated at public meetings and in the newspapers for county commissioner, an office that he held in the years 1810, 1811. 1812 and 1813, a period during which the building of public bridges was agitated. Both in the newspapers and on the records he is frequently referred to as "Col. Ewalt," a title he probably acquired through being connected with the militia.
Col. Ewalt's principal business was farming, but like many farmers in his day he also engaged in distilling. He frequently bought and sold real estate and during the twenty-five years of his greatest activity was taxed with variable amounts of farm and mountain land, which one year reached in the aggregate 530 acres. His business qualifications and credit were of the best, and in November, 1814, he was elected a director of the Pennsylvania Agricultural and Manufacturing Bank, of Carlisle.
He died at the house of John Koch, in Juniata township. He had been ailing but was able to move about, and on the evening before set out from his home to go to a store a few miles distant. On the way he was suddenly attacked with a chill so violent that it was with great difficulty that he was enabled to reach the home of Mr. Koch. The chill continued unabated and was succeeded by a stupor that ended in death. A newspaper report of the incident ends by saying: "He was lamented by all who knew him." His remains, it is generally supposed, are buried in the Presbyterian graveyard at Middle Ridge. His first wife died ten or twelve years before he did and her remains are buried at the same place.

1 —, Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 165.

2 —, Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905), Pg 166.