Elmer R Deems

b. 16 January 1849, d. 8 March 1933

 
Elmer R Deems 16 January 1849 - 8 March 1933

Father*George C Deems Jr b. 25 Mar 1819, d. 22 Feb 1898
Mother*Eliza Ann Sharp b. 1825, d. 18 Apr 1890
Elmer R Deems|b. 16 Jan 1849\nd. 8 Mar 1933|p1053.htm|George C Deems Jr|b. 25 Mar 1819\nd. 22 Feb 1898|p176.htm|Eliza Ann Sharp|b. 1825\nd. 18 Apr 1890|p177.htm|George C. Deems|b. 1774\nd. 27 Aug 1852|p127.htm|Elizabeth Fisher|b. 1782\nd. 15 Apr 1840|p128.htm|John Sharp||p1048.htm||||

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Note*Elmer R Deems History Of washington County Page 570

ELMER R. DEEMS. This gentleman comes of Germany ancestry, the first of whom to come to Washington county being Mark Deems, his great-grandfather, who, while a resident of Maryland, served in the Revolutionary war, participating in the battles of Long Island, Brandywine and Trenton. In October, 1786, he came to Pike run township, this county, and took up a tract of 341 acres of wild land at the head waters of Pike run, naming it "Deems' Dependence," on a portion of which Wilbur A. Deems (a brother of Elmer) now lives. John Deems came hither with Mark, but did not remain long, removing to Virginia, where he made a settlement on the Kanawha river, where his decendants still reside. Mark Deems died on this land April 14, 1814, his wife about the same time, judging from the following copy of receipt for wages, filed in the office of the county register of Washington, which receipt reads as follows: "April 27, 1814. Barbary House was employed by Mark Deems and his wife, in their last sickness, three weeks, $3.75. Received payment, Barbary House." They were the parents of children as follows: George, John, Adam, Mark, Jacob, Catherine (married to Nathaniel Jones, of Washington county), and Mary (married to Samuel Crow, also of this county), all of which are now dead. At the time of his death, Mark Deems was owner of over 800 acres in West Pike Run township, which land on his demise was divided among his children. His personal property amounted to $1,985.32, a large amount for those early days.
George Deems, grandfather of Elmer R., received as his share of his father's estate the farm now occupied by the heirs of Samuel Yerty. He married Miss Elizabeth Fisher, a lady of English birth, and the result of this union was the following named children: Mark F. (deceased), George (living in West Pike Run township), John (who died in Illinois), Jacob (living in West Pike Run township, Mary (deceased wife of David Jenkins, and the mother of Capt. George Jenkins, now of West Pike Run township), Catherine (who was married in Illinois to Jehu Graves, and died without issue), and Elizabeth (married to Samuel Heaton). The father of this family died in 1851, the mother a few years earlier.

George Deems, father of Elmer R., was born in 1819, in West Pike Run township, this county, where he was reared to agricultural pursuits, which have been his life vocation. He has been most successful in all his undertakings, and can justly claim a prominent place on the noble roll of self-made men of the county, as from the bottom rung of the ladder he has, unaided, worked his way up to the top. The first labor he was employed in was breaking stone on the National pike, and by industry and thrift he is now owner of four of the finest farms of his township. In 1846 he married Eliza Ann, daughter of John Sharp, who at one time owned a fulling mill on Little Pike run, near what is known as the White Hall school-house. When his daughter, Eliza Ann, was a small girl, Mr. Sharp moved to Holmes county, Ohio, where his wife died, and Eliza then came to Pennsylvania to live with her uncle, Lewis Baker, in West Pike Run township. To Mr. and Mrs. George Deems were born five children: Elmer R; Mary, who died young; John J., in West Pike Run township; Harvey F., in Canton township; and Wilbur A., on the old home farm in West Pike Run. Mr. and Mrs. Deems built a new house on their farm, and here she died April 11, 1890, at the age of sixty-five years. Mr. Deems, now a man of seventy-three years, is yet living on the farm. Politically he was formerly a Whig and "Freesoiler," now a solid Republican; in religious connection he is a member of the M. E. Church, as was also his wife.

Elmer R. Deems was born in West Pike Run township, Washington county, January 16, 1849. He received a common-school education; attended Southwestern State Normal School at California, 1865, 1866, and Mount Union College, Ohio, in 1868; was a successful teacher in the public schools for several years, and since his marriage, in 1872, has followed the occupation of a farmer. He was too young to participate in the late war, but when there was a call for State troops, after the burning of Chambersburg, in 1864, he enlisted in Capt. Castner's company, being then fifteen years of age, but saw no service. In 1872 he married Emma, daughter of James S. Crawford, Esq., of East Bethlehem township, and of this union were born two children: Sarah C., in 1877, and Ernest, in 1887. Mr. and Mrs. Deems moved to the Shenandoah Valley in 1875 (where Sarah was born), where they remained only two years, owing to the prejudice of the natives to Northern people. When they returned they located in West Pike Run township, and later moved to East Bethlehem township, where, in 1880, they built a comfortable home.

Mr. Deems has always been an active Republican, and during the Presidential campaign of 1884 he organized the first Blaine and Logan club in the county. The East Bethlehem Cavalry, consisting of thirty-three members, being uniformed and equipped by August 1, it was during the campaign and as captain of this company, at Fredericktown, on the evening of September 23, he was brutally attacked by a desperate Democrat tough, and although coming out victorious he received an almost fatal wound, which has rendered him incapable of performing manual labor. Thus compelled to abandon his occupation as a farmer, he entered the political arena, and in June, 1887, received the nomination for prothonotary, only lacking two votes of being nominated on the first ballot, and in November was elected over W. A. Cracraft, the Democrat nominee, by a majority of 1,401. He has been an efficient and accommodating officer; as a high compliment for the satisfactory manner in which this most difficult of offices has been filled by him, he was, on the meeting of the Republican convention, in June, 1890, unanimously re-nominated without opposition. He has been an efficient and accommodating officer, and was re-elected by an appreciative public. Since his election to the office of prothonotary, he has lived in the borough of Washington, on East Maiden street. Mr. Deems is a member of I. O. O. F., O. U. A. M., the F. & A. M. and Jacques De Molay Commandary, Knights Templar, and is a member of the M. E. Church. 
Milit-Beg*He began military service at Capt. Castner's Company. 
Occupation*He occupation at Teacher. 
Birth*He was born on 16 January 1849 at West Pike Run Township, Washington Co, Pa. 
(Living With Parents) CensusHe appeared on the census of 1850 in the household of his parents George C Deems Jr and Eliza Ann Sharp at West Pike Run Township, Washington County, PA; George Deems 30 farmer, Eliza A 25, Elmer R 2.1
Education*Elmer R Deems was educated between 1865 and 1866 at Southwestern State Normal School at California. 
EducationHe was educated in 1868 at Mount Union College, Ohio. 
Marriage*He married Emma Crawford, daughter of James S Crawford, in 1872. 
Death*Elmer R Deems died on 8 March 1933 at age 84. 

Family

Emma Crawford b. 1852, d. unknown
Children

Last Edited31 Jan 2009

Citations:

  1. [S69] 1850 Census Washington County Pa West Pike Run Township.
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