DITTOE, PETER, deceased; born July 18th, 1793, in Maryland;
died July 30th, 1868, at Mount Harrison, near Somerset. Came
to Ohio in 1802; served as a volunteer in the war of 1812;
was a leading and
successful merchant in Somerset, from 1813 to 1839; married
July 4th, 1817, to Miss Ann Spurk, daughter of Peter Spurk,
of Chillicothe, Ohio. They had eleven children, of whom eight
survive. He was
recorder of the county, postmaster under John Quincy Adams,
Jackson and Van Buren; though a staunch Whig, and the devoted
friend of Clay and Ewing. Without ever having seen an organ,
and unaided, except from the books, he constructed an organ
for the Catholic church in Somerset, over fifty years ago,
which is still used there, and which sounded the solemn requiem
at his funeral. He was a close student, a great reader, possessed
of sterling integrity, a devout Catholic, an esteemed citizen,
a kind parent, and valued friend. When he and his wife had
lived happily for fifty years, their golden wedding was celebrated
at Mount Harrison, the building on which was erected in 1839.
The eight surviving children are: Elizabeth, married, first,
to Joseph Elder, of Emmitsburg, Maryland,
one son; second, to Bernard Wagner, lawyer, Evansville, Indiana,
one son; Cecelia, married to Martin F. Scott, merchant, of
Somerset; Francis R., married, farmer, died in Jackson county,
Iowa, leav
one son and one daughter; Lewis H., married, owner stock
ranch, Idaho, one son; George M., editor, five sons and one
daughter, Newport, Kentucky; William T., married, lawyer,
Davenport, Iowa;
Gertrude, married to E. D. Wiseman, Peoria, Illinois, merchant,
one son; Peter, Jr., married, farmer, residing at the old
homestead, Mount Harrison. |
