John Cears Kear Family
A History of the John Cears/Kear family
About Van Wert
Early History
My
(i.e., Donald Kear) first contact with a member of
the Kear family outside of Ohio was with the widow of a
descendant of Thomas Reed Kear in Chevy Chase, Maryland. In my first
telephone
conversation with her, she could recall the name of her husband's
father and grandfather, and that his grandfather came from a
little town in Ohio. When the name, Van Wert, was suggested, she
recognized it as being the name of the town.
The early history of Van
Wert and the Kear
family are inseparable. Thomas Carlyle may have believed that
history is nothing more than the biography of great men, but
history is much more than that. It is the sum of the activities
of all people, whether they are great or small. and, as will be
seen in the biographical sketches, the Kear family certainly made
its contribution to the beginnings of Van Wert County, and the
Town of Van Wert, Ohio.
Mercer
County was organized on 2 January 1824,
and Van Wert was detached from Darke, and attached to Mercer for
judicial purposes [note
1]. Van Wert County was organized on 18
March 1837 and detached from Mercer [note
2].
Van
Wert was named in honor of Isaac Van Wart,
one of the three captors of Major John André, the
Adjutant-General of the British army who was on a spying mission.
In the resolution passed on 3 November 1780 by Congress rewarding
the three men, his name was misspelled. The incorrect spelling of
Van Wert County has been traced to a clerical error in recording
the name [note
3].
On
24 October 1834, James Watson Riley and two
other men formed a company to lay out the town of Van Wert in
Pleasant Township. The three men had separately purchased a total
of 240 acres for a total cost of $450. This tract of land was
laid out in lots measuring 66 feet by 132 feet with the 78
original lots being bounded by Jefferson, Jackson, Cherry and
Water Streets. One lot was set aside for a school.
The
company deeded the odd-numbered lots,
except the school lot, in the original plot on 12 April 1838 to
the county on the condition that the seat of justice be located
in the town. The deed was recorded on 9 March 1838 after having
been accepted on 6 March 1838 by the County Commission [note
4]. At this same session the
commissioner's ordered, "That one hundred and forty lots be laid
out on the land belonging to the county, in order to fill out and
Make square in form the original surveyed and recorded plat of
the town of Van Wert, and that the same be known as the County's
addition to the town of Van Wert."
1. Ohio Local Laws, XXII, p. 41. [Return
to text]
2. Ibid., XXXV, p. 273. [Return
to text]
3. History of Van Wert and Mercer Counties,
Ohio, (Wapakoneta, O.: R. Sutton & Co., 1882),
Biographies of Van Wert, p. 131.
4. Commissioner's Journal, Van Wert County, Ohio,
Vol. A.
Copyright
Information on this site related to the Kear family is from The John Cears Kear Family compiled, written and edited by Donald L. Kear, copyright © 1984. Copyright © 2000 - 2006 by Donald L. Kear. All rights reserved. Portions of the pages on this site may be reproduced for nonprofit use only. Credit shall be given to the source.